HeroesCon Auction Piece: The Shazam Family
I'll be at HeroesCon in a couple of weeks, and I try to participate in the art auction each year. I really liked the way my Doctors Who piececame out, and dug that longer format. I've also been reading the Lou Schimer Filmation book, so the World's Mightiest Mortal has been on my brain. I thought it'd be fun to do a long vertical piece of the Shazam Family flying. All the Family. So that meant the Lieutenants Marvel, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and Uncle Dudley. And for good measure, you can see the wizard Shazam in the background, too.
[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/marvelfamilyWIP.jpg" align="left" border="image_border" link="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/marvelfamilyWIP.jpg" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" width-"200 px" ]
It's my hope that one of these days, DC will give the Marvel Family the same digital treatment they have for Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman. I think Shazam has a lot of room for interpretation, and taking them outside the DC mainstream may be the best place for these characters of different world and sensibilities. I mean, there's a walking, talking tiger and people just accept it.
And yeah, I'd hope I got to work on it, too.
[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/marvelfamily_heroesPRE.jpg" align="left" border="image_border" link="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/marvelfamily_heroesPRE.jpg" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" width-"200px" ]
Anyway, to do this piece, I sketched out all the characters on tracing paper. I tried to give them unique poses, even though they're all doing basically the same thing. I stuck with the DC 70's versions of the characters, except I gave Mary the same swashbuckler boots everyone else has instead of the slippers she wore for a while.
And, as much as I like the idea, I did away with the jacket flap on Captain Marvel's uniform. I know it was from the original and I am kind of a fan of it but there's something about the simpler design that works better for me.
The original piece is 24" high on bristol, and the black and white, as well as a color giclee print, will be donated to the auction at HeroesCon. I might have a couple extra copies of the print at my table, too.
Commission List open!
Coming to Denver Comicon or Heroescon? My commission list is open for both shows. If you're interested in getting a piece, shoot me an email and we'll figure it out.
I'll be at Fiesta Equestria!
It's been announced that I will be at guest at Fiesta Equestria in Houston. The show will be July 11-13 at the Houston Marriott Westchase, and I'll be there along with other Pony People… including Brenda Crichlow, the voice of Zecora. Since I wrote the recent Zecora/Fluttershy issue, I'm particularly looking forward to meeting her. I'll be bringing copies of the Pony books I worked on, sketchcards, and be taking and doing commissions, too. Hope to see you there.
Sometimes People Bring Me Things
I have great fans and friends. At Comicpalooza, I've made the acquaintance of a couple people who work at and with the Houston Space Center. One of them, Rick, was kind enough to bring me some Orion stuff. I can't express how cool this is.
Have Some Comicpalooza Commissions!
While I'm waiting for United to find the bag that they lost on my direct flight (what the heck?) back from Houston yesterday, I thought I'd share some of the commissions that I did over the long weekend. There was a great mix of Ponies, heroes and some obscure cool stuff. Check out in particular the tae kwon do pony I drew to look like the girl who bought it, and some of the obscure Martian Manhunter characters. Take that David Goyer!
The Adventure of the Red M&M's
So here's what happened. A couple days ago I get a mildly frantic email from the Andrew at Comicpalooza. They're trying to accommodate me for the Pony spotlight panel that I'm insisting on. Only one problem: I never did that.
What happened, I think, was a game of telephone. Someone asked me online if I was on any of the Pony panels. I said that I hadn't been asked but if offered, I'd be glad to do so. That metamorphosed into a prima donna demand about how I just had to have a panel all about me.
Andrew and I quickly set things right. In fact, I have now been asked to be on the 2:00 Houston Brony panel today and tomorrow's 5:00 Pony Draw Along. But then, after establishing myself as a reasonable creator again, I did joke: "But I insist on ONLY red M&M's. This is NOT NEGOTIABLE!" And we laughed.
And so, Friday morning, Andrew comes to my booth and gives me a bag of red M&M's. Totally made my day. Bravo, sir!
Crusaders (Cutie Marks and Mine) for Comicpalooza!
Here's a commission that I did in advance for Comicpalooza this weekend. He wanted Scootaloo from My Little Pony's Cutie Mark Crusaders flying with my Crusader, from Love and Capes, obviously, in a kind of Can You Read My Mind kind of way. It's not the kind of combo I would have thought of at all, but I think it came out really well.
This is probably a fine time to mention that I've updated my commissions page, too.
Doctor Who Commissions
My friend Jesse Jackson has an awesomely cool Doctor Who sketchbook. You see, he commissions DW art and has those pages, rather than promo photos, signed by the actors at shows. I think it's a great and more personal way to celebrate the show. I've been fortunate enough to do more than a few pieces for his book, including a new Colin baker Doctor, Madame Vastra, Captain Jack Harkness and Paul McGann Doctor. I thought I'd share them here.
A New Print for Comicpalooza
For a bunch of reasons, I did a new illustration of all the Doctors Who strolling out of the Tardis, clown car-style. I'm going to be selling these at Comicpalooza. They're 18" long, about 5" high, and will be $15.00 each. There are going to be three Doctors at the 'Palooza, too. Coincidence? Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey? Who knows.
Commissions from C2E2
I wanted to share my commissions from C2E2. Disclosure: The Twilight Sparkle/Applejack one was done after the show because it somehow slipped off my list. But that let me color it digitally, too. I'll be at Comicpalooza in a couple of weeks, too. My commission list is open. Interested? Shoot me an email and we'll get you set up.