Cover Recreation Double Punch (pt. 2)
Here's the second of my classic comic cover double-punch!
This is a recreation of the classic Man of Steel #3. Crusader and Darkblade are replacing Superman and Batman, but the wildcard here is the DC villian Magpie who's been replaced by the villianous Fearleader. She's often mentioned (and is Chris Sims' favorite never-seen character) and one of these days may actually appear in a comic. We'll see.
I tried ti keep with the older, flatter coloring style where possible while still keeping some of the Love and Capes coloring style as well. I think it turned out pretty well. Click here to see it biggimized.
Too lazy to scroll to yesterday's link for how to order commissions? Here it is again.
Cover Recreation Double Punch (pt. 1)
I've had two recent commissions that have involved recreating classic comic covers with Love and Capes covers. There must be something in the air.
First up is this recreation of Birds of Prey #8 with Darkblade and Amazonia substituiting for Nightwing and Batgirl.
This was done for two of my biggest fans in Baltimore, who have even bought copies of my book to give to other pros. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.
I'm not sure, but you might see this cover again, too.
Click to embiggen the cover, of course.
Wait, you want a commission? Why contact me here and we can make that happen.
The Girl Who Waited
It's an irritating truth that it's easier to place your friends and family behind other concerns. I've been working on client stuff and traveling and all that, so when my friend Jesse asked me to start off his new Doctor Who-themed sketchbook, it took way too long for me to get to it. But, three-and-a-half months later, I did.
There's part of the chain of events that works out, though. I felt I'd taken so long that I really had to up my game on the sketch.
The subject, which should come to no surprise to anyone who knows me, was Amy Pond.
I got to break in my new Copic markers on this one. I haven't done much with them in previous sketches, and I find I really like them. It gives them a lot of pop. I'd always had the idea of making Amy's hair the only color on the piece, but since the Doctor did such a great job describing how vivid a blue the TARDIS is, I scanned a rough and did a rare color test, to see if I should make the time traveling box blue. The tests are below. I leave it to you to decide if I made the right choice.
Click on anything for embiggimzation!
YMCA Illustration
While I was on my sojourn in Los Angeles last month, my rule of "The best way to get work is to leave town" came into play. I had the opportunity to create a cartoon for the Lake County YMCA for one of their fundraisers, illustrating people in one of those mobile closet-like things where wind blows and money (or, in this case, coupons) fly about for you to grab. Most of this was done remotely, with only the final touches being done once I was back in Ohio.
You probably can't tell, but there's a touch of Tim Burton in this. I'd just seen the Tim Burton exhibit at the LACMA and it influenced the way I constructed the characters.
It pays to be mobile!
Come to the Cabaret
In my work for the fine folks at Learn It Systems, I was called upon to design a logo for an event called "Cabaret: Tip Your Hat to Learning". I had two guidelines:
- Colors were black and red
- They wanted to see at least one version with a mortarboard morphing into a derby.
I went through five rounds of revisions before coming up with a final version. The final was set so that it could be used in color, black and white, and grayscale versions. You can see the process here:
Run For Your Life!
I've been running late on my commission list. But how can you run late on a commission that involves the Tardis?
This commission, from New York Comic-Con, is of Amy and Rose from Doctor Who running into action.
And, because this can't be linked to enough, the Craig Ferguson Doctor Who Cold Open.
Spooky, Kooky and Sober
I recently got the opportunity to design some artwork for the Lake County Health Department and a local designated driver program they were advertising for the Halloween weekend in Willoughby.
I got to push past my normal style and again work in solid cutcolors. Thanks, too, to DK Photo for taking the picture of downtown Willoughby that appears in the background.
Convention Print for O-H…I-O!
I'm getting ready to head to New York next weekend, but the weekend afterward, Wizard World Mid-Ohio (formerly Mid-Ohio-Con) is definitely on my radar. You might be asking yourself "Is he going to do a print for his home show?"
Well, of course I am.
Doing something Ohio State related was a no-brainer, and they're certainly well known for the Script Ohio. How could I not do it?
As with the rest, I'll have 25 of these prints available, all signed and numbered. And there's still time to actually appear on the Long Beach print, too!
Start Spreadin' the News
Now that I've been home for a week, it's time to start planning my next trip. I'll be in New York City for the New York Comic-Con. I'll be set up with the Comic Book Diner guys, so look for me there.
And, as you may have guessed, a new show means a print. Here's the New York Love and Capes print.
Still yet to come this year, Columbus, where I'll put something special together for the Buckeye fans, and Long Beach, where I might do something that everyone across the country might be interested in. Hopefully, I'll let you know about that later this week.
Bride of Sketchapalooza
The last wave of my commission madness. Now's a great time to remind you, too, that I've got three shows this October: New York Comic Con (where I'll be set up with the Comic Book Diner guys), Mid-Ohio-Con, and Long Beach Comic Con. I'll be doing commissions at all of those, but if you want to get on the sketch list early, especially if you want something color and/or reference-heavy, pre-ordering is always a good thing. Send me an e-mail at tz (squiggly-at) thomz.com to get on the list early!
