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.

Superman / The Flash Race

This is a commission I was asked to do a while ago. I was out of my comfort zone having never painted The Flash (and Superman only once) and having the scene set in outer space. Initially the hardest thing to do was get the uniforms right as every artist seems to draw the uniforms a different way. I eventually asked for reference of how the client would like it to look. 

I thought it may have looked cool to use a Star Trek warp speed effect to show the speed but t doesn't quite work when using red as the main colour...so I painted that out and left it for a while. Usually, as you can see from the earlier Spidey post, I don't do much in the way of layering but I found that the best way to create movement on this piece was to loosen up and use broader strokes. Also, purple came in handy as a bridging colour between the reds and blues. 

I was still struggling to get the piece to work as a whole, the Flash was moving and Superman wasn't...the answer to the problem was found by leafing through a Drew Struzan book...lightning (Back to the Future posters, genius...if you haven't seen them, check them out) 

There was already lightning on the Flash as it's part of his new uniform and adding it to Superman solved the problem. I think it looks pretty nifty now. It brought the whole piece together.

Too often when I draw, especially for published pieces, I tend to stick as closely as possible to the current version of the uniform/look of the character, even if it's a pain or I struggle with making it work in paint. Really I should just do what works. Like adding the lightning to Superman...it shouldn't be there...but it's right!

Another thing I often/pretty much always do, is paint without thinking or visualising what the finished piece will look like. An advantage is that it helps keep my interest in the art...but I do run into problems. Right now I'm painting a JSA/Crime Syndicate piece and I've painted in a really blue L.A. sky...will that work with the ref shots and the lighting I've used for the characters? Possibly. Maybe I should have thought about it. It's also why, if you ever get a piece from me, the art is never centered on the canvas board/piece of paper...

Quicksilver - Son of M #2

Initially I painted this piece in monochrome, in blue. The editor, Tom Brevoort, asked me to put in a broader range of colours. He was right. It was pretty simple, I added a touch of grey to the white parts of the costume and a few hints of skin tone. I did this back in the time when I was freelance and was working for both Marvel and DC. It was ace...

Quiksilver's uniform was a little odd at this time, the two tones of blue, the pointy gloves. The Son of M series itself was pretty cool though. The follow up, Silent War went through a lot of editorial changes, rewrites...and the final series 'Black Bolt:Underworld' was never published. I read the first issue script by David Hine, it was really good. I think the idea was to take The Inhumans to the bottom, the depths of despair and then build them up again and put a fresh version back in the Marvel Universe...but Secret Invasion happened and Black Bolt was needed for that...