Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 389

BLACK PANTHER VOL. 7 #4. 2018.
Gouache and acrylic on bristol board, 11 × 17″.

Black Panther #4 is out today, from Ta-Nehisi Coates and Daniel Acuña. Aside from the character sketches and design work, Daniel provided me with a layout sketch for the cover. This allowed me to take on a monthly painted cover gig, something I usually shy away from. This series has been a ton of fun, both to read and be a part of. I hope you'll pick it up!

Reference artwork by Daniel Acuña. 3D models from Anatomy 360

digital color study

digital pencils

layout by Daniel Acuña

detail

Justice League of America!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA. 2018. Photoshop, 14 × 20″ @ 400 ppi.

At long last, my JLA print is finally seeing the light of day! This is one of the few projects that I actually quit halfway through. It was just taking too long and I wasn't happy with the results. Luckily for me, Sideshow was not only beyond patient, they convinced me to come back, going so far as to help me with some of the painting duties (like Aquaman's scales).

It will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 28. Full details here. I'll do a process post at a later date, but the whole thing was done with Photoshop using mostly Kyle T. Webster's brushes, plus a couple from Greg Rutkowski.

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 388

Le Mariage au Hill Bleue (Wedding Invitation). 2013.

Ink on bristol board with digital color, 11 × 17″.

It takes guts to wear a yellow jump suit, but it takes even more to marry a comic book artist (and blogger?). Happy 5th anniversary to my very own April, love of my life, mother of my child, and organizer of the best wedding I've ever been to (seriously, it was amazing). Love you, babe!

one massive reference file — thank you, internet...

ink over blue-line pencils

blue-line pencil over blue-line print

digital sketch

digital layout

Black Panther #6

BLACK PANTHER VOL. 7 #6. 2018.
Gouache and acrylic on bristol board, 11 × 17″. Full details.

detail of raw scan

Black Panther #5 Cover

BLACK PANTHER VOL. 7 #5. 2018.
Gouache and acrylic on bristol board, 11 × 17″.

I totally forgot to post this! Here's cover #5 of Black Panther, my second of the series. (I just turned in #7 last week, and will start #8 soon). Daniel Acuña, the artist on the book, has been providing me with rough sketches to get things rolling. I'll show those once I post the full process.

detail of raw scan

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 387

VENOM: FIRST HOST. 2018.
Ink(ed by Joe Rivera) on bristol board with digital color, 11 × 17″.

Our variant cover for Venom: First Host #1 is out! Full details here.

Hourly breakdown:
sketch: 6
pencil: 5.25
edits: 1
color: 3.5
= 15.75 hours (+ inks)

3D models from Anatomy 360

inks by my Pops!

blue-line print of pencils

pencils over digital sketch

digital sketch

StocktonCon 2018

VENOM. 2018. Ink & watercolor on paper, 9 × 12″.

I'll be at StocktonCon this weekend, August 18-19. You can find me at table AA20, so feel free to stop by. I'll have prints & books for sale and will be available for quick commissions, as time permits. I don't charge for signatures, but will gladly accept donations on behalf of Hero Initiative. Hope to see you there!

detail of raw scan

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 386

X-23. 2018. Gouache on mixed media board, 9 × 12″.

(Claws also made from Strathmore Mixed Media Board)

gouache washes to hone the drawing

decided to add a hand

pencils

Venom: First Host #1 Variant

VENOM: FIRST HOST. 2018.
Ink(ed by Joe Rivera) on bristol board with digital color, 11 × 17″.

Our newest Venom cover has finally been revealed! It will be hitting shelves later this month. I'll be sure to do a Wacky Reference Wednesday when the time comes. Full details here.

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 385

DOCTOR STRANGE IMAX TICKET. 2016.
Gouache and Acryla Gouache on bristol board, 11 × 17″.

Back in 2016, I was asked to create a limited edition collectible ticket for IMAX screenings of Dr. Strange. Although I wasn't able to see the movie before it came out, I did gain access to Marvel Studios' marketing photography (always with my name plastered across it for reasons of security). It was a fairly quick turnaround (at least for me) clocking in at 52 hours total. Full breakdown below:

— layouts: 7.75 h
— pencils: 2.75 h
— sculpt: 3.25 h
— color study: 1.25 h
— board prep: 2.25 h
(can't remember why this took so long, but I know I had some issues)
— reference: 1.5 h
— painting: 32.75 h
= 52 h

The reference I get from Marvel is always watermarked with my name.

The variant edition of the ticket (bottom of the page) was created using a gradient map in Photoshop. We tried quite a few different versions to get the right psychedelic look. The trick is to preserve most of the value relationships while going nuts with the hue and saturation. I reversed the values in the darkest part of the image, resulting in a "negative" appearance, but in an isolated area.

digital pencils, variant, color study

digital layout variations

digital layouts

DOCTOR STRANGE IMAX TICKET VARIANT. 2016.
Gouache and Acryla Gouache on bristol board, 11 × 17″.

painting over the digital printout

my gouache palette and reference

Almost done!

Details

Murphy

MURPHY. 2018. Photoshop, 8000 × 2000 px.

In case you hadn't heard, I've got a brand new Artist Shop at Threadless. I only have 2 versions of one design at the moment, but it was a fun project that pays tribute to one of my favorite films. There are many colors and styles available — hope you'll take a look!

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 384

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI #5 COVER. 2018.

Ink(ed by Joe Rivera) on bristol board with digital color, 11 × 17″.

Issue #5 is out today! Here are just some of the pics that went into its creation. The color is all digital, but I was trying to go for a more "watercolored" look. Hope to do more in this style in the future.

All images I found online, including some Hot Toys figures

inks by my Paw!

blue-line print of pencils

pencils over digital sketch

digital sketch

digital layouts