Sunday, June 26, 2011

ERB's Number One

Well here is a stab at the most drawn scene from Edgar Rice Burroughs 'the Monster Men'. Bill Stout, Mark Schultz, Frank Frazetta, St. John have all done this scene. So I figured I would give it a try. I didn't even know Mark had done a version until this wednesday when I finally got a copy of his great sketchbook Vol. 5. I got it home and opened it up and bang there was a drawing of Number 13 and Number 1 fighting, which was something not done yet with it. Then a commission piece of this scene. I had previously drawn a version but when I saw Mark's I just tore mine up and threw it away. The pose was almost exactly the same. 
So anyway here are the pencils. I am pretty sure it won't be the cover but it might be a splash page or something if I am lucky.


Here are the inks as they stand Sunday evening.....it is a very slow process right now. My hand is giving me fits lately. So anyway enjoy Loyal Legionnaires, and I promise more Captain Spectre very soon. I still have a couple of commissions to knock out from my friends fund drive I was working on. But Captain Spectre pages are boiling on my workbench to be done. And in my mind. Thanks for tuning in.

Oh, I also added a blog roll over on the right side, down a bit....blogs I follow as they update will be at the top. As I installed this gadget there were 128 blogs I follow on my list...sheesh. But as they post they will drift up. So enjoy that small addition too. It's all about the links and traffic, Legionnaires.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Fathers Day...


I had an idea for a WW2 era Captain America and Bucky drawing. I loved those Kirby issues where the acrobatics were part of their character. They worked as a team facing all obstructions. I also tried my hand at inking in solid bold strokes kind of like Chic Stone. His inking was so solid that Jacks figures just leapt off the page. I did this drawing on spec. Maybe someone will buy it, as I still have until the end of the month to hand over the money to my friend in need. Anyway it is inked, on 11x17 plate finish strathmore board. 


This is a version of the above colored with the limited palette of the old comics industry. I have been playing with different ways to color my images in prep for deciding which way I want to color 'Solo Flight' when I get it all done. 


I did this Creature on spec to start off the commissions, and it sold....thanks David....I had never drawn a creature before, except when I was a kid I tried it a few times after seeing the movies. My favorite Universal monster as when I was a kid I was a big fan of scuba diving. Loved all the shows like Sea Hunt, Aquanauts, and the movies like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I ended up getting my aqua lung license and doing some diving in some off time in the service. Last real dive I made was in the East China Sea many years ago. Couldn't do any of it now a days, but I do fondly remember it. Deep sea adventures and space stuff were high on my list of kid dreams.


This was a commission I knocked out this past week also, from a friend who used to game with a small group I was part of a few years ago. He was rereading the first Burroughs' Mars books and wanted a shot of John Carter. When I was a kid I was always a bigger fan of the Tarzan stuff than the Mars stuff. And that has kind of carried over. I tend to not draw John Carter but this was one of the first I had ever done, and finished to this stage. I guess access as a kid is a big thing...there were the great Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller, comic books, and the novels. I always enjoyed the mars books, just preferred the jungle adventures. I would think in todays world, off world adventures is the next frontier. When I was a kid Africa was still mysterious, not that it still isn't...just we have taken some of it away. 


So on this father's day I would like to salute my dad. We had our differences for sure. But I never really got to know him. He died when I was young. But that made him more of a legend in my eyes than ever. He was a mystery to me, but he was my dad. I spent a good deal of my life as a diesel mechanic because of his ghost. I wanted to be as good a mechanic as him. Hell I wanted to be able to anything as good as he could. But I never made it. I was a good mechanic, but I was never a builder like him. I felt he could do anything. He built a swing set for me and my brother when we were kids, and that swing set still stands today. I imagine that when the world is finally blown apart in some horrific event that a chunk of earth will float off into the cosmos with that damned swing set still intact. So happy Father's Day to you dad...and happy father's day to my sons who are fathers and doing a better job at it than I ever did. 

Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Mucker commission

Sorry for the late of updates lately....just busy as can be with things. Here is a very long overdue ERB commission that I finished up finally. I am sure the owner of the book will be glad to have it back. I am sure he thinks I ran off with it never to return it. ha. It's tough to draw right in a book, as I kid I never drew in books, or even dog eared the pages. So actually trying to draw in one it a tough mental thing to get over. Plus usually the paper is terrible for marker art at a con. So was glad to bring this one home and work with ink and brush on this one. Anyway will box it up tomorrow and send it on it's way.

Also I usually don't do any commissions or anything, just don't have the time with all that goes on. But I am opening up some time to do some commissions this coming week. I have a friend in need. He needs some money fast, like by the end of the month.
So I have some Spider art I could sell from the prose Moonstone Spider book. Or I could do original things, which I would prefer to do. Anyway you guys know my range of things. Adventure, pulp, early sci fi types of things. Please don't ask me to do 'odd' stuff, if you know what I mean. Anyway I am just going to give the money to my friend to help him out. I am trying to get my good karma built up I guess. Just seemed like the only thing I can do to help him out. I don't have savings or anything to pull from, just freeing up some time to do some drawing. So if you can help and get some art you like let me know, Legionnaires.

Prices start at $200 for:
11x17 original of your choice, within reason,
black and white
brush inked,
unframed piece.
includes shipping

Prices start at $35 for:
11x17 original head and shoulders
black and white
brush inked
unframed
includes shipping

Email me and let me know...we will talk about it.