THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES

This piece is the first in an ongoing commission series. In a nutshell it's the Legion as I'd like to see it. Back when I started reading comics, when I was 8, I'd draw Legion covers. I never did the interiors, just covers. My Dad would bring home a stack of A4 photocopy paper for me to draw on. Weirdly I can still remember the feel of the paper, the smell of it...but anyway, it's a top three memory from my youth.

 Straight away I'd fold the paper in half, it was usually about 50 sheets Id get, so it was a reasonable amount. Then I'd draw up the logos, always the Legion, and the DC bullet, the issue numbers and get to work drawing the Legion in all the situations I wanted them to be in. I introduced new members, always reintroduced Invisible Kid and Ferro Lad, killed off a few who I wasn't keen on, the usual fare for a kid. Sometimes I'd get to colouring them too, using Berol felt tips (awesome, still have them now, seriously it's the best felt tip of all time!). 

So, now we come to this commission series. I've been given the freedom to do what I'd like with the Legion again, and I even get paid! So, I'll post each new one here, hopefully one a month. I've started off drawing in a classic style, something near to Mike Grell (I'd say my favourite Legion artist). I think the art style will morph, eventually, into my own drawing style. I guess I just wanted to establish the series as one that harks back to a time when the Legion was great. 

I'll be colouring the covers too, in time, but not with felt tips. I may use watercolour...or I may do it digitally, if I can figure out how to make it look like comics used to instead of the murky, grey...let's leave that sentence hanging there.

So, issue one of Adventure comics (the commissioner's preferred Legion is the original Swan series). The title is obviously from Star Trek. Here we have the Legion facing off with the Legion of Earth 3, the Legion of Crime...

'The Legion of Super-Heroes, back in their series, come face to face with the greatest foe yet, themselves!'

LSCC 2014

LSCC March 15 & 16, 2014

Excel Centre, London

www.londonsupercomicconvention.com

I'll be attending LSCC in March next year. As last year, get in touch if you'd like a pre-con commission sketch doing. They're basically copic marker,  finished/detailed convention sketches. I'd like to say they're similar to what Adam Hughes (did) or Copiel does for pre-con commission sketches...but they're clearly not as good as the sketches they do (And the price reflects that!) They do look quite nice though! 

See the entry for Bristol 2013 for a few examples. 

Prices are £80 for an 11" by 17" (or A3 depending on where you live) and £40 for one half the size (A4)

I will be sketching at the con as well, both Saturday and Sunday but as I'm really slow and also can't talk and draw at the same time the number I can do will be limited. The sketches I do at the con are free, they're not as detailed or finished as the pre-con ones mentioned above...but they're ok. 

As the spots are limited I'll have to ask that you come over on the day and get your name added to the list. This is fair as otherwise, if people get on the list before the con starts, then I'm booked up before it even starts...

Also, a few people have asked about me doing other kinds of commissions for them before the con. These will be increasingly difficult to fit into my schedule as they take longer and I'm getting booked up...so if you'd like a recreation, a full tonal piece or something else then it'll have to be sorted soon!

I'd like to make this post a little more detailed but I wasn't aware until I started getting commission requests that it'd been announced I was a guest...so this is a quick one.

I'll also have a folder of pre-con sketches for sale (like last year)

I'll also be easier to find as I'll be at my assigned table and have a banner with my name on it...hopefully...

Here are a couple of pre con pieces from LSCC 2013...

More detailed blog to follow at some point over the next week...but right now I have to draw something, it's after 11 already and I've accomplished nothing today.

I'd add more images but I'm pretty inept at making copies of art. If I find some, or if anyone has an example of something I've drawn that looks ok then get in touch!

Justice Society of America on a Sherman Tank ... Part 3

And here's the final piece. It's been a while since I drew the JSA and this was a lot of fun. The figures themselves are pretty small, well smaller than I'd usually paint the main figures in a piece. But it works. I wanted this to look like a snapshot, the kind of pic that a soldier would have taken. It's more of a historical piece than a superhero pic. I think I got Green Lantern right in this one...

Justice Society of America on a Sherman Tank ... Part 2

I've been enjoying painting this tank, especially the tread. Grey is interesting as it's not really grey. For example the tan, so far is a mix of Indian Red, Winsor Blue, yellow ochre, Burnt Umber, Naples Yellow and Titanium White. Stuff looks grey in relation to the colours surrounding it. It's really a mix of many colours. 

Another enjoyable aspect of working on this piece so far has been listening to the new Beatles Biography by Mark Lewisohn ...it's awesome. I've read many other books on the Beatles, Davis, Norman etc but this one is more in depth and a really great listen/read. Putting the Beatles into a historical and social context really brings it to life. Interviewing many people from the time really helps with this too, people who've previously not been heard before. 

Justice Society of America on a Sherman Tank

The brief was to put the JSA in a WW2 setting and include a tank, a Sherman if possible. The JSA work really well when placed in a historical or 'real' setting and so it's proving with this piece. I've gone with a bright blue sky, the same as in the photo ref I found to use. It's one of the things you don't see on comic book covers anymore, they're either metallic looking, digitally rendered and moody or full of irrelevant detail, as a generic rule. 

Also, whilst it may just look blue at this stage it's actually carefully blended so that when I add in the different elements of the foreground it'll add to illusion of depth in the painting. Basically I just made it go lighter toward to bottom.

The leaves are pretty loose, done using some dark greens, gold ochre and burnt umber...

N.I.C.E. Con 2013 - Back home....

Just got back home from the Northampton International Comics Expo (NICE) at the weekend, avoided having to get on a bus as part of my train journey home only to find every train in Britain affected by a signal failure. 

Anyway, it was a great weekend. Jeff put on food for all the guests, supplied us with drinks, went beyond what a guest at a comic con expects in many ways. And his mum's vegetable samosas were awesome (ask Esad Ribic). 

One idea that Jeff introduced was to have an area set aside where attendees could queue for a free sketch by one of four artists. Whichever artist was free when the attendee reached the front of the queue was the one you got a sketch from. I was a little apprehensive at first as I like people to get on my sketch list and leave me to it (I can't really talk and draw at the same time...and I feel pressure wen people watch me)...but it was really good. Each set of artists were there for an hour and then were replaced by the next wave of artists. It was a really good idea as people who couldn't afford to pay for sketches, or kids, could get something nice to take home.

I sketch for free anyway but I'm very slow and so my list fills up pretty quickly. Sorry to all the people who didn't make it onto the list this time. If you want to get on the sketch list at any future cons I attend then just get in touch. Also, I do pre-done sketches that I sell, they're more finished. Again, get in touch beforehand and I can get one done and bring it to the con. Just don't leave it too late.

I didn't see anything at the con as I was sketching all weekend but people were really positive about it. It'll be on again next year and will be even better, no doubt. Jeff and Bub are great guys, the staff are too. They go out of their way to get guests that are new to the UK as well as some top talent from here. 

I'll be there in 2014, I have a couple of people on my sketch list already...

N.I.C.E. Northampton International Comics Expo 2013

N.I.C.E. Northampton International Comics Expo 2013 (7th & 8th September)

I'll be signing, sketching and generally hanging around at the NICE con in Sept this year. Last year was really good, a lot of guests. The venue will be better this year too, more central. I think there are 36 artists and writers attending this year. Come on down and say hi!

I'll be sketching for free at the con but be sure to get in touch, I'll be limited to 10 a day as I'm slow and can't talk and draw at the same time really. 

I'll also be doing the usual pre done sketches in Copic marker that I'll have for sale. If you'd like one drawing specifically, again, get in touch. See examples of some previous sketches here.