d r a g o n b o n e s    

Always been a fan of Norse mythology. Thanks to that, I’ve never been a huge fan of Marvel’s version of Thor. I know, I know – just being honest. He’s a god, and he always seemed… awkward in the standard Marvel world. In recent years, I think that they’ve done a much better job of placing him within the world without making things so odd.

At any rate, when the folks over at Xion decided that the May Art Jam would be Thor, I figured it would be a good time to have a go at the ol’ Odinson. I decided to make his costume a bit more traditional – a bit less… tights.

As should be obvious, this needs a lot of work yet – especially in terms of Mjolner. I like the more traditional shape of the hammer, but it needs some knotwork to finish it off. This was really just meant as a quick sketch though, so perhaps another time.

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.