Doctor Sunshine!

Today's special guest hero is for my buddy Chris Pond, who is a fan of the old Valiant comics and is trying to be a fan of the new Dark Horse versions! If only they came out more often!

Anyway, 'Pond'--this Doctor's for you!! ^0^

Groovy Ghouls at CryptiCon!

I spent the day with Mark Monlux at Crypticon, at the Hilton Conference Center in SeaTac, Washington. While I was there mainly to be Mark's booth flunkie and help him out, etc., I did get to meet loads of cool folks and made a couple of promising business contacts and even had time (it was Sunday and a bit slow, I'm afraid) to make a couple of sketches to cover my blog for the weekend! So here are Saturday's and Sunday's sketches.

We were situated at the same table with Mark Rahner (yes, three Marks at one small table!) who is the writer/creator of "Rotten", a zombie western comic series!! So I decided to draw a zombie cowboy. As it was a horror con and not just a zombie con, I figured I should do a classic, so I sketched up Frankenstein's Monster! That fit right into the theme of Mark Monlux's "The Comic Critic" book!

When turtles fly!

Ok, I can't even PRETEND this took less than 50 minutes. :P So, as far as it being a quick sketch--total FAIL. However, I think I can be forgiven--I've always had a soft spot for the Heroes-On-A-Half-Shell. And when I saw a new--and quite exquisite TMNT pic by Kevin Eastman the other day, promoting the new IDW TMNT book, I was inspired to get carried away. Plus, I always liked drawing the Turtles!

So Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird--this sketch is for you guys! And best of luck with the new TMNT series!

Call me MISTER Goon!

Just wanted to do a quick, easy one today. And a portrait of Eric Powell's "The Goon" seemed made to order. he's got a clean, stylish design and I used a brush pen to emulate the polished line-work that Eric uses. About 20 minutes. Still a bit too long, but I wanted it to get that slick presentation down!

It's...MAGIC!

This was a sketch done on the back of a Magic: The Gathering artist's proof card. When I did card art for the game, in addition to sending me samples of the final card, they also sent me a batch of white-backed artist's proofs. A nice little collector's item, and perfect for doing little sketches on the reverse for fans of the game!

It was a while ago, but this probably took about 20 minutes.

Prime Time...

Another C.L.A.W. Open Swim evening has come and gone! Tonight's theme for the sketch contest was: "Transformers--Ladybot & Deceptibabes"! The idea, obviously, to take "Transformers" characters and give them a transformation they'll never forget! In other words--into females! All very 'Trans' and I was tempted to go the Drag Queen road...but we only had an hour to crank these out and I really didn't have a decent idea beyond a couple of puns--which a couple of other people had also thought of. LOL

So I just took Optimus Prime and gave him a "straight"-forward makeover without trying to get too clever. I threw in one of the puns I had thought about, but other than that I kept it simple. I couldn't get too fancy, because frankly--I'm not any kind of expert on Transformers. I never followed the animated shows and I've seen the movies...once. So I felt at a distinct disadvantage.

But I did well--coming in thrid in the voting. ^0^ So I was happy. I even got a cool prize! (Thanks Nick!!)

HULK NEED MANICURE!

Another pic I overworked. This took waaaaay too long--45 minutes or so. There's another lunch break I'll never get back. But, what can I say--it's easy to get carried away with the Hulkster! Anyway, I was trying a slightly different technique, but it ended up taking longer. I should probably confine quick sketches to either close-ups or action poses with not much detail.

However--if you're a Hulk fan, here's one for you! ^0^

Goblin-Babies! New from Helltoys!

Here is an excellent example of why I started this blog. A nice little goblin sketch, done on-site at Comic Book Ink a year or so ago. But it took nearly an hour! I wasn't really hurrying, and it's not like there was a line of people wanting sketches, but if there HAD been...they would have all given up!

The trick is, nice...and cool looking--but FASTER! This is NOT a speed-demon, that's for sure!

A bit...Forced.

So, today's brilliant idea was: "Hey, I should draw Darth Vader from memory!" After all, what if a kid comes up to me during a con and says, "Can you dwaw Dawf Vadew fow me?"--and I don't have any reference handy?? What am I supposed to say to this poor child, who only wants a sketch of his favorite ruthless dictator?

I figured, hey--I've been watching Vader skulking around the Galaxy Far Far Away for 38 years...I SHOULD be able to draw him. Right? Ya think?? Well, I made a good try. It took about 25 minutes--so, too long. And it isn't quite right, although I haven't pulled up an actual photo to make comparisons yet. But maybe the kid will still think it looks cool and go away happy. (OR he'll pick it apart with the kind of detailed knowledge that I probably had 25 years ago, but have long since forgotten. You know how kids can be!)

Weekend Sketching with Jesse Munoz

On Sunday I met and sketched with Jesse Munoz (a talented local comics artist who is responsible for inspiring me to do this blog). We chatted, looked at artwork (I brought a stack of Magic: The Gathering card paintings) and sketched for a couple of hours. He was sketching Batman and Harley Quinn...so I did too. He did his sketches about twice as fast as me...maybe faster! Thus reinforcing my belief that this blog is a good idea!!

Thanks, Jesse!

(Photos courtesy of Carmen M of Comic Book Ink!)

The Original Burger King!

Today's sketch was right along the lines of what I need these to be. It took 15 minutes. I probably could have done it quicker, but I was trying to keep the lines neat! I used a brush pen to get that clean 'Archie' quality!

Jughead was always my favorite Archie's character. I think I identified with him over his love to eat... i wish I could eat everything I wanted and stay skinny the way he does! Guess that's the benefit of being a cartoon. Dan Parent--this one's for you! Thanks for being a contributor to "The Power Within" comic! ^0^

3rd Sketch Posting! Wonder Woman

So this is a little more like it. This is a 20 minute piece. About 5 minutes to do the loose pencil and then 15 minutes inking it and trying to keep it pretty! LOL This one is for my friend Zan, who likes WW, and my niece Nicole, who is a Wonder Girl in her own right! ^0^

It's a bit simple...not very exciting. It occurred to me after I was working on it that I should have done something utilizing the bracelets...maybe next time.

My take on "The Comic Critic"

My friend and fellow C.L.A.W. member, Mark Monlux, does a great web/book published comic called "The Comic Critic", where he does a one page comic about a movie...or the experience of seeing a movie...or random thoughts about the relative merits of a movie, etc. (Visit www.thecomiccritic.com and enjoy!)

For one of our C.L.A.W. 'zines, the members did their own versions of one another's comics--and I did a "Mark Monlux's The Comic Critic" about my favorite movie: "STAR WARS"! I did a style similar to his, but the experience depicted was all mine. ^0^

2nd Sketch Posting! "Go, Spidey, GO!"

Today's "quick" sketch is the black costumed Spiderman! I LOVED the symbiotic jammies! In fact, the introduction of this costume was what started me buying comics again. I always liked the original costume too, but this was so sleek and elegant. Hell, it was so cool, it LITERALLY took on a life of its own!

Anyway, this sketch was another less than successful one. First, there's definitely something wrong with the fore-shortening. Second, It took WAY too long--around 45 minutes! :p I kept fussing with it. In future I need to set a time limit and STICK to it. I should have just stopped after 15 minutes...but I love Spidey and wanted to go ahead and finish it. But this is supposed to be a learning process, so I am posting the fails as well. Anyway--props to Stan Lee, the creator of the Web-head!

My "Dinosaurs" Comic Sample

I didn't get a chance to do a new sketch today because I was busy at lunch doing a phone interview with a local news blogger related to my (and Zan Christensen's) "Power Within" anti-bullying comic book that we are raising funds through Kickstarter.com to publish! I'll post more about that project later.

For now, since this blog is about sketching and drawing established characters, I wanted to show a comic page I did a couple of months or so ago featuring Jim Henson/Disney's "Dinosaurs", from the amazing (albeit short-lived) TV series. This was a not-too-subtle self-promotional drawing / bid to interest someone in letting me revive the property as a comic book series. No dice...but it makes a cute portfolio piece. ^0^

Darkwing Duck! First sketch posting!

The Terror That Flaps In The Night!

OK, first posting of a sketch! I decided to do Darkwing Duck because I've never drawn him before...and he's just cool! HOWEVER, much improvement needs to be made! This sketch took WAY too long--about half an hour. The idea here is to develop a fast style for convention sketches, so I need to get these sketches down to 15 minutes, twenty at absolute most (and preferable ten on average.) Granted, I DID do a whole body shot, but it still just took way too much time. So, I definitely need to get that streamlined. Also, the shading marker I had turned out to be nearly dried up--need to get new supplies.

But anyway, here's day 1 of the Brillustrator Daily Sketch Blog! Not quite ready for a stopwatch yet...but it's a nice little sketch to start. ^0^

(BTW--interestingly, this book is written by Ian Brill! Long, lost relative?)

Usagi Yojimbo Fan Piece!

A fairly tight pencil drawing painted in Photoshop. I did this to submit to the San Diego ComiCon Souvenir Book. The kanji in the background says "25" representing Stan Sakai's 25th anniversary publishing Usagi! The dark horse he is patting represents...well Dark Horse Comics, his current publisher. I don't know if it will be used or not, but I enjoyed making it and it came out pretty well, so I'm happy.

(Oh, and obviously, Usagi Yojimbo is the intellectual property of Stan Sakai and is published by Dark Horse Comics and Fantagraphic Books.)

Gunfight in Dogwood

This is a sample piece I drew for a comic I am working on called "Dogwood Tales" and will feature the adventures of Sheriff Belinda Moon, the only female law enforcement officer in the Old West! Also...it's an anthro comic, so everybody in it are dogs, hence the title. ;)

Who Is The BRILLUSTRATOR?!

Here's a quick overview of who I am! Just click on the image to enlarge--you don't want to get eye strain. ^0^