RIDING IN ON A DARK HORSE

Click 'em if you wanna embiggen 'em!

Two sketches from recent Outcast Studios' Daily Sketch Challenges-- never drawn the Goon before and I found him quite fun.  Might have to give him another go soon.

Been a while since I've drawn ol' Hellboy and it was fun getting back into that character and his modus operandi.

X-LARGE ROBOTS VS MONSTERS & A NAKED WOLVERINE

Here are some from a little while back that I haven't gotten around to posting.

First up, my very own giant robot and giant monster (inspired by Mr. Del Toro's PACIFIC RIM).  Went with the Asian style giant robot/man and the giant ape-like creature for his opponent.  Loads of fun.  Click on it for a monstrous experience!

Below is the naked Wolverine, pissed off and running down the sewers seeking vengeance against the bum what stole his duds!  Click on it for a closer look at Logan's package.

INKING BIG JOHN BUSCEMA

It's a futile thing to attempt under the best of circumstances.

Getting a completed drawing of one of the legends of comics and attempting to interpret them with inks is a huge challenge for veteran professionals, or so I've read, so it's certainly not a walk in the park for this amateur.

But I had to take it one step further and pick a loose character sketch, a vague layout that gives you the gist of the figure but not the desired details that would make inking more, for me, unto a thing of tracing.

And then, it's a John Buscema sketch.  The guy who famously was unhappy with the vast majority of the work inkers would do to interpret his pencils.  A man whose talent makes most pros look like children drawing stick figures.

The man who literally co-wrote the book on drawing good superhero comics.

Yeah, no pressure.

Oh, and then I decided to try to ink it digitally.

Doh.

Well, here's the progression...

(Please click on any of these for further detail)

Haven't gotten around to finish it yet, but that pile of bodies will be the death of me...

I will say that it has gotten me more used to digital inking and I can't say that I hate it, it makes for fine attempts at experimentation and creative choices I would be afraid to try on a real piece of art.  Must look into it further.

SHELLHEAD versus HORN-HEAD

So, a few blogs back I mentioned that my next post would be all about the finale of Outcast Studios' Battle Royale which would pit Daredevil against Iron Man for all the marbles.

And I didn't really follow up as planned... for which, I apologize.  In truth, by the time I made it back here to blog about my new art, I'd forgotten that I hadn't told the final tale of the exhausting matter.  It took a lot out of me and taught me a good deal about my pros and cons as an artist and competitor.  All good things.

But it was exhausting.

So here was my final piece in the competition against my very worthy opponent ThirdRailDesigns:

(Click to view in Kirby-vision)

Note how I did my damnedest to give DD a fair shake in this battle by bringing out the old gold armor of Tony Stark's early days of crime-fighting.
And that's the setting I chose, some dark side-street in Hell's Kitchen.
Home field advantage for horn head!

It didn't work, though and the competition walked away with the belt and trophy (we get both in the Outcast Tourneys).

Anyway, here are some of the endless sketches and character layouts I worked on in my quest for the final piece above... some turned out nicely, some... very meh.
As always, click on it and it will grow, just like a Chia-Pet:

 

 

 

 

And there you have it--just a sample of the many ways I tried to work out my final piece and I still don't think I took enough time to adjust it correctly... or maybe I over-corrected.  Hard to say in these things.

Next time on 'THE GOODS':

I hope to come back and post more very shortly... on to other things...