d r a g o n b o n e s    

Another quick warm-up sketch. This time of a steam-punk-y character in a top hat, and complete with goggles and wax tipped mustache.

Working with Nevermet Press has given me an appreciation for the steampunk genre that I never had before, and this character design seemed a great way to work the bugs out.

There’s likely to be more where this guy came from.

Another in my 3 minute portraits series. This set includes, from left to right: Mick Jagger, Marty Feldman, and Richard Nixon. Done digitally with my LS800, and each in 3 minutes or less. Quick disclaimer – yes, I recognize that these might not be the greatest likenesses, but like I said – each done in 3 minutes or less. The idea is to get better and capturing a likeness very quickly.

A quick concept sketch of Ororo Monroe – aka Storm of Marvel’s X-Men. I redesigned her costume just for fun (not that you can tell too well from this shot). The X-Men come in a solid second place for my ‘all time favorite comic series’, following hot on Spider-man’s heals. Yeah, I was a Marvel kid growing up.

As I grew up, I found an appreciation for DC. They tend to create more iconic characters, imho. Or rather, they did when I was a kid. Both companies (and many more) blur the lines a bit more often now, but it seems (to my memory at least) that Marvel was always about muddying the waters a bit – making things not so clear cut. Peter Parker started out trying to make a fast buck with his powers. Ororo made people believe she was a goddess. That always made those characters more real to me.

I love a good icon, but when I was a kid, I wanted to understand right and wrong, and it didn’t seem like those lines would ever be as clear cut as they were for Batman or Superman. I was a Marvel kid.

A bunch of very quick sketches of random faces/characters that I did just to get warmed up recently. Done entirely digitally, and spent only a couple minutes on each face. I just wanted to get a feel for each of the characters/creatures and then move on to the next. Also played with lighting in a couple of the characters.

I’ll be at Dr. Sketchy’s this Saturday for the ‘Tribute to Mad Men’. Let’s see: Dames, Drawing, and Drinking. Ummm… yes please. Anyone else coming out?

Check out more details on the Branch Blog.