Also found on Ebas' Deviant Art and mirrored here for the sake of having it all in one cool place ;)
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RTW2_1
Where to start on this one. Well, I was asked and asked and asked to draw this particular cover as its the biggest book that Zenescope (the publisher of the comic) will put out. There was a lot of pressure for this assignment but I caved and decided to do it. But I was busy for a long while and couldn't do untill the very last minute. But in the meantime I kept thinking over and over....how am I going to fit all those characters into this amount of space and make it look cool and at the same time not screw it up??!! That's a lot of pressure that nobody needs. Esspecially when your editors are telling you " it's going to be our biggest book ever"!!
Well, I ran out of time and had to draw it quite fast and left me with little room to think. and for me thats the hardest part. i already know how to draw, its the magic behind the idea thats the challenge. but i had no choice and just went with my instinks and this is the best i could come up with. hope u like it
alice was the hardest part of the thought process because again, there was more presure in drawing her. shes the star, the main attraction. in the past, i ve only drawn alice very sexy or with half her clothes off. thats easy, no real emotion, no real science behind it. just draw a hot chick. so my 1st thought was draw her really big and sexy, "its the biggest book of the yr". but i went with my gut and decided to go with the deaper feeling and go with the in ur face story telling. My editor was very iffy with the "slit wrist" thing, but i felt it was important to tell the "story" i wanted and went with that. so, how can mix those emotions and not make u feel like u want to vomit as soon as u look at it? well, that was yet another fork in the road. i felt if i draw her with a more "assending" into the sky "feel" that might make it less depressing. when i finished drawing her it all went down hill from there. i felt she was strong enough to grab ur attention and the mojo (as i like to call it) kinda just flowed out.
in the end, its one of my favorite pieces that ive done. whats even better is the my friend and fellow artist Nei, kicked serious ass at coloring and brining it to life (nothing hurts more than someone coming along and ruining all ur hard work). i think its her best color job to date. i mean come on, even the mirror looks awesome. who makes a piece of flat glass look that good?? thanks lil one. i owe u a churro.
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GFT1
this pose was originally suppost to be used for a Fantastic Realm cover, but they said they wanted to go another way. thier loss i guess. poses and ideas are the hardest process for most artist and me esspecially. so i wasn't about to let a pose go to waist and used it for JayCo's RedRidding Hood. and yes, i realized right after i drew it that there's no way the basket would be strong enough to support her, so i thought well.....she brought a basket full of bricks to through at the big bad wolf. works for me.
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Maggie vol.2 #3
This is my fav cover of the four that i did for maggie, and not cause im reppin the KING on her shirt. but because i think there is a lot going on. and i think it tells the story and lets u know that this time, u can jugde a book by its cover
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Maggie vol.2 #1
this was my second cover ever that i did. i was so nervous about messing up and following Benitez's steps and creating a new costume and all. I musta done a least 20 different thumb nails for this pose and felt this was the strongest one for an issue one.
Plus at this time my desk was litterally right next to Marc Silvestri's.
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Shrugged
drawing a more mischievious/dominate pose on a female is always a lil tricky because there is a very specific way its suppose to be done, therefor giving u more room to screw it up. so when drawing something like this i make sure to spend as much time on the face as possible in hopes that i can nail the expression.
typically lowering the head gives off this feel....that i dont think i accomplished. oh well. the other key elements are the eyes and eye brows. giving her and angry eye brow/sleepy eyes look mixed with a smirk or smile usual makes for a nice "imma stab u in the back and im going to enjoy doing it" kinda feel.
well, im not sure who this character is but its the vibe i wanted to go for. drawing it reminded me of the white queen for some reason.
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Aphrodite
i love getting commission request of this character, becase she is always a lot of fun to draw and i never really feel bad about the piece when its done. and as some artist may know the feeling of... "man, i screwed this one up!!" but she was tailor made for my specific....skill.
BUT, i went against my instincts with this one. when someones paying me for a piece, i normally stick to full frontal and sexy. u can never go wrong with that. but for some reason i went more sensual and calm. ( i thought it might be safe as this was a returning customer) when i was done i felt pretty good about the road i took. its always a chalenge to try and incorprate feeling into a piece.
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Witchblade/Devi #1
Nei nailed my vision perfectly yet again. i was so happy when i saw this. i suggested the sun beams and told her to try it and if it didnt work it was cool. but she kicked ass on it of course. but sadly my editor told her to change it back.
so this version will not be published which is the better version. oh well.
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Harley Quinn
I love drawing harley quinn, anyones thats kinda younger but has a quirky personality is fun to draw. its one of the few times i get to really streatch my muscles. most of what i draw is the lead iconic super hero. and all lead characters are expressionless (to impart intimidation to the villan). like superman has to always have a square jaw and look iconic (unless u are drawing clark kent) and always have to look like the poster boy of perfection. its always cool to draw ppl like Witchblade or the Darkness, but rarely do u get the chance to do a "fun" character. so this is my 1st attempt at drawing a commisison of harley. and it felt wrong to take any of her clothes off, so this is what she looks like in my head. fun and cute, but i'll pound ya into the ground when ur not looking.
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TR 26
one of my early Jaycompany cvr's i did awhile back. at this time, drawing this many girls was a very daunting task to even think about. i mean drawing one girl is hard enough and to have to draw FOUR???
u should see the process i went through back then, i had pages and pages of fix's and errors and copies with altered heads and legs and such.
now i work it all out in my sketchbook and avoid all that figuring out on the actually board. saves a lot of time.
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Witchblade #37
German EXP variant
i got an email one day a couple yrs back from someone in germany wanting an exclusive cover from me. at 1st i thought it was a joke, cause i was a nobody back then, but now its all i do. hehe, funny.
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GFT1
this pose was originally suppost to be used for a Fantastic Realm cover, but they said they wanted to go another way. thier loss i guess. poses and ideas are the hardest process for most artist and me esspecially. so i wasn't about to let a pose go to waist and used it for JayCo's RedRidding Hood. and yes, i realized right after i drew it that there's no way the basket would be strong enough to support her, so i thought well.....she brought a basket full of bricks to through at the big bad wolf. works for me.
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Emma Frost
white queen is still my most requested character to draw, but i dont mind because she is fun to do. plus, she doesnt wear much.
i owuldnt recommend drawing forshortening like this as its very dificult to do. ppl normally make the mistake and draw from the wiast up too big. i find it easier to draw from the waist line down bigger that the rest. it helps ensure the effect.
i like drawing asses, thats why i drew her in this position. too many boob guys out there. but i was happy with her expression and the fact that it looks like shes sitting on a couch. i dont like take a photo and copy the pose verbatum. so i made it up entirely and thats not always recommended or easy.
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Red Sonja
Another commission i did at the Pittsburgh con.
these are always a challenge to do because u have so many to do and so little time. plus i cant do them AT the shows, cause im signing and sketching that theres no time and its very difficult to focus. people are paying a pretty penny for these and i cant just crap it out.
i guess the most difficult part of this drawing was the hands. nobody really likes drawing hands and im one of them. they are in a very specific position and the right one is forshortened which makes a hard job even harder. but again i only get to spend an hour and half to two hrs on these so i cant dwell on it for too long.
another diff thing is the tilt in the head, plus trying to capture the sensual look. i find its easier to raise the jaw line to meet her nose thus, giving the illusion that the head is tilted down, rather than having the jaw line at the mouth where it should be. also lifting the nostrils a bit, again for the illusion of the tilt.
i dont normally like to draw these worriors like red sonja and wonder woman in thier normal "imma kick ur ass" stance. thats only cool on an actaul cover of a comic, so i went with a more calm pose. i kinda like it, i think its different
again, i dont get to use reference, cause i draw them at my hotel with no computer, bad lighting and no ref.
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BotB
there's prob a lot in this picture that ppl might find fault in...or just plain wierd. for example the lips are full and plump, and i think some might say they are too big. another would be the waist, and how small it is. or how thick her thighs are and last..her ribs are too pronounced. but thats the beauty of art, u dont have to follow certain rules when its ur preference. some ppl might abuse this rule and use it as an excuse to not approve upon oneself and just use that as an excuse for everything... "it's my style" or "it my preference". in my case its the thick thighs (which i really like) full ass( which help sell more copies), narrow waist and complete absence in FAT in her ribs. all this is just not possible on the same body.
steve firchow did a beautiful job bringing my thought to life when he colored it..no?
well, nit-pick if u'd like. to each thier own i guess, but i like it over all and have gotten offers for the original and turn them down. i m happy with the results and its not for sale.
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Krypto
the idea/story telling was more important to me on this one than if she was hot or not. i've drawn her several times and they all seemed to be recieved well. but this time i wanted to do something a little diff. even though she is just standing there, everybody kept commenting on the dog, which was my intent. i think it is a very playful elament even though she is in her panties.
the hands were hard to draw again, i hate drawing the hand on the waist thing, it never seems to come out right.
im pretty happy with the wildness of her hair. its a bit much, but it works for me
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GFT 11
i have been an art rut lately. this is only the second cover i've done in prob a month or two. and thats not much for me, as thats all i normally do. i did this one in one sitting.. as soon as my pencil touched the paper, mojo was oozing out all over the place. i tried something different this time. i have specific technique when i draw certain things and i chose to be a lil ballszy and played with the style of face i drew. the close observer could see that almost everything on the face is different. than my normal stuff. and needless to say this was prob the easiest face i've draw in a long time, no mistakes and no erasing. and those that keep up with my gallery know that i always say how much i hate drawing faces. so this was fun for me from top to bottom. nothing was really hard on this one, but after i scanned it and saw it shrunked down, i realized that i drew her ass to big, so i had to redraw it and scan it again...some might think its still too big...oh well.
im a big fan of disneys pirates trilogy, so i pulled a lot of inspiration from there, i awlays say it pays to use reference.
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Emma/Jean
another convention commission i did at a show..i forget which one. do u guys love my camera/scanner? hehe
sometimes its hard to looks at these after a couple of days. believe it or not, im at my absolute (mm..absolute) WORST when drawing commissions at a show. first im dead tired. normally i dont start these till after the eating drinking and having fun ends...typically around 3 or 5am. so the only way i can do them is to decide if im going to get 4 hrs of sleep or none? its hard to look at them, cause i see all the mistakes i made because im going to fast or my vision is too blurry...or im still a little buzzed. but oh well, so far i've gotten lucky and nobody has asked for thier money back.
this one was a special request. they wanted a girl on girl type of thing. believe it or not, its not as easy as it looks. to try and do something unique or poses that arent just two girls just standing there. but i welcome the challenge. so far..i tend to like the way two character ones come out.
i hate that the top of gean greys head is inclined to high and that white queens leg is too short.. i wish i had more time to spend on these. so things like that dont happen.
on a happier note, those that keep up..or watch..(what ever its called) will remember how i feel about drawing faces. now i know that i dont draw the prettiest or most realistic looking faces..but i was pretty happy with the way emma's face and hair came out here.
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Red Sonja
another commission i did at a show. i think it was san diego.
i hate getting request to draw powerful strong woman..it takes me out of my game....i can do sexy in my sleep now..but strong AND sexy???diff story.... i know its stupid cause its just a comic character that does not exist...but i like to capture essence as often as possible. and with girls like wonderwoman and red sonja, thier essence is power and being a badass, period. so, its harder to do as they are typically not smiling and in some kinda power stance. its particularly hard for me because i will not settle for this. she still has to be sexy in some way...a la anjolina jolie. why settle for one, when u can have both?
so to capture badass...(not the wolverine type where its more animal and furocious than power) i think superman. the spine is always straight up and down..chest up high and the head always leveled. if you tilt the head in anyway...even slightly, u lose power in ur stance. chin up is more majestic, chin down is darker more mysterious..as in how will i kick ur ass today??
this ones pretty straight forward and im kinda happy wih it. oh, and my first time using markers..if only for the background...need to practice.
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Witchblade Tomb Raider
another convention commission i did..these seem to be the most popular veiwed images on here so i will keep posting them.
unfortunately i dont have much to say about this piece, its pretty straight forward...
overall im pretty happy with the end results. both faces came out good, and im pretty happy with the deatail of it all. but some fans may know that i hate drawing tombraider, mostly because she never seems to run out of bullets. and her costume is kinda lame. so i tweak her outfit a little and make it my own...
drawing two girls this close together is pretty tricky in the sence that its hard to avoid it looking like porn or a really slutty image. plus, there are so many ways that both girls can look pretty stiff. i have four legs at the bottom of the page all inter twind, again hard to do without it looking stiff.
this is prob one of my favs of con commissions.
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Fairy Sketch
this one is actually a sketch i did for a friend. she was bugging me forever to do something in her sketchbook. and she didnt even care what i drew..she said draw anything.
so i decided on a fairy. this one was like heaven...i felt like i was flying. when u get to make something up, theres no real right and wrong. i was like, hey, lets make her nose more pointy...and her eyes wider..and i just let my hand go wherever it landed.
the only thing that might bug some ppl like marc silverstri...he is a stickler when it comes to composition and in this picture, its COMPLETELY wrong and he would frown upon this drawing....but thats exactly why i did it...cause its wrong. and i like it....but again i dont recomend breaking rules...unless u know why ur breaking them.
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AIX Bust
im surprised at how much ppl liked this one. cause as some of u know, i hate drawing faces... and thats all this one is...one big giant face...
several ppl wanted to buy thid one from me, and i had to turn them all down, cause the master sculpter clayburn moore asked if he could buy it...i was flattered and honored at the same time..there's no way i could take his money so i just gave i to him..
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page_17_of_ultmate_FF_by_ebas
this was an especially challenging pg. the script called for a shot in the FF hanger while having this girl standing over a body while reed and bed are runing in....and this is just panel one. i actually managed to get 5 plains in this shot. three lined up, one big one in the back facing us and one huge one in the forground hangning overhead. i was always tought that in order to portray depth..u need black, midground, background and forground elements..to name a few. and even though this big ass jet is mostly in black, if u were to draw a line on the floor straight from where the girl is standing to the hanging plain..u would find that she comes up to only half the jet. when ever having an "Establishing" shot, its best to pull out with the camera, because u want to get the lay of the land and give the reader a look at the environment. so that when ever u draw the same scene and zoom in..the reader is not lost when u have a fight scene and the camera is all up in the hero's face. this panel was inspired by none other than bryan hitch. my current influence...mans nuts with all those lines he draws.
panel three directly below it was a pain in the ass cause i had to redraw all the sh#t i just finished, PLUS adding some action. some veterans might say i over did it because the the compisition is weak. in using composion right it helps eliminate confusion...as in "what the hells going here"?? and needs color to seperate it. but thats what color is for..so i bend the rules a lil.... the forshortening with reeds long arms really helped with the depth in this shot along with the size of the main figure. depth is very importand in drawing a believable environment, and is very impactfull. i was pretty happy with her expression. i pictured someone fiercly pushing u and try to capture that look and drew what i saw in my head.
panel 5 is important in action story tellin cause when u have someone all tied up and is obviously not going anywhere..but still has an angry expression shows a true mark of a bad guy. and what i feel that accomplishes is that im stuck...i know i can get away...and how dare u slow me down. someone who KNEW they could not get out of it wouldnt be as confadent. at least in my head. lowering the camera a lil helps with dynamics. and she does get away in the last panel.
last panel: to pull off the bright light effect is really simple. dont draw any black on the side of where the light is coming from and try breaking the lines so they dont connect to help show its really really bright.
i find that the best tool i have soemtimes is inspiration..not talent or skill. i call it MOJO!! i will quickly flip through some of my fav guys like hitch, lee or joe mad and by the time im done..im all fired up and my mojo is falling out my ass...and i say lets draw some comics!!!
whew, it took me two days to do this one.
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Ultimate Xmen Fantastic Four
this one is for the Ultimate x men/ fantastic four crossover.
i know i dont normally post my actual published work. they dont seem to be as popular as my commissions. i think its becasue of the lack of grey scale.
there was a lot of pressure drawing this cover for serveral reasons. one of them being that its my very first marvel cover.
i was always told that when ever doing a team cover to always have a central figure to hold the whole thing together...and while i dont always follow this rule, i do think its right.
the coolest thing for me was that i got to design all these characters...and never in my youngin days did i ever think i would ever get to do. so that added a lil more sentamental value.
im a HUGE jim lee fan, and he always inspires my action stuff. funny though that not many ppl seem to notice.
sue storm is always hard to draw because she is so boring. i tried though. like adding wolverine like spikes that she made out of invisi shields. and that floating disc thing. believe it or not, i originally designed her with much smaller boobs and marvel told me to make them bigger. who'dathunkit?
it was quite challenging to draw that robot because its not easy to render and add shadow to metal..but i think theres enough going on there.
namor was the hardest cause im not so use to drawing guys. especially from the waist down.
if ever u wondered why guys like jim lee and silvestri are good, its cause of things like the extra fx/eye candy they add. like the energy lines on the rocks on the floor on my cover. makes for a more dynamic image. a trick from thier bag
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Beyond Wonderland
the end result came on the third attempt. my editor first pitched the two characters facing off...facing each other both wielding weapons, his knife (idiot! who brings a knife to an axe fight??) and her axe. but i was not sold on this idea. i told him that i have to sleep on it for a day or three cause the idea didnt really click. i felt no mojo when i heard the idea. often times i get asked how i draw such cool covers or images...this is NO LIE...all the magic happens BEFORE i even pick up the pencil. its all in the idea. anybody can draw a cool image, but its the thought process that serperates the good image from the amazing. metaphore: imagine a house..anybody can build a beautiful house, with fancy tiles and a bunch of rooms...but if u build a house on a lopsided foundation, the whole thing will come tumbling down. for those lamans: the foundation is the thought process, the house is the drawing. no matter how much eye candy u put on it, if the foundation is wrong...the whole thing falls apart.
so having them not moving...arms down, facing each other. means that they are now profile...boring. maybe in a movie.
next idea i suggested to my editor was to have them already fighting, , he was like sure...i nibbled on that for awhile, but i was still not feelign it. i normally iron these things out in traffic on the way home. and if any of u live in LA u know how much time u have on ur hands. i thought fighting might make for a cooler image, but not suspenceful enough.
so i suggested having him already stabbing her. it jumped out at me and the mojo was begging to come out. my editor was optamistic when i assured him this was the way to go.
i have to be honest, i completely drew Kalie and was moving on to Johnny, and i was feeling NO mojo. i was kinda disappointed. all that thinking and medditating and i wasnt feeling anything, no chemestry or mojo. turns out the prob was that i didnt plan out the background or the lighting on johnny. once i layed those factors in, a smile come over my face. i was happy to say hello to mojo once again.
the composition was fine this picture for the most part. some experts might say that its too busy that i put too much detail in. might be true considering that the colorist is going to add rain to the whole image. these days u dont need to draw rain anymore. clutters up the original.
i try my best to delv into the essance of any character i draw. cant really say what a physcho would be thinking at this moment, as ive never stabbed anyone before. so i guess a good substatute would be keith ledger. he would smile after conquering his opponant. plus i think it makes for a more sinister effect. makes the reader feel like he's enjoying torturing his victums.
her expression is obvious. but i have to say, a lot of ppl, even pros, think that story telling ends with laying out the panels on a comics page. camera angles and pacing. NOT true, u also have to tell a believable story with body language. without that, there exist no emotion.
for added fun my editor the all mighty raven said, hey ebas, can u throw in a NYC skyline?? aaaarrrhh!!
when i was done, raven said to me...ebas, i FINALLY have a note correction for u...never good to hear. but i couldnt believe my ears when he said...are u ready for this?? he said " can u make her boobs bigger"?? can u believe that??
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Mary Jane
this one was kinda easy, its a straight on shot of maryjane taking off her shirt. speaking of which, her arms and hands were pretty tuff to draw (again using no ref as i was at a con, and drew it in my hotel room) i had to stop, sit back, and figure out which wrist went over what hand/arm, and so forth.
this one is pretty explanitory.
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Hunter/Killer
this an interior page of a book called hunter killer, if u have not read it, get up off ur ass and go buy it!! its a really good read. Mark Waid did a amazing job penning this book.
well there's not much to say about this page, its an eye candy page, no real story to tell, at least not at first glance.
actually drawing something like this is not easy for some artist cause if u look closely this pg actually has 5 panels. not easy when u have a big ass figure like we have here.
to cram a shot like panel one where the script called for a guys hand on fire, everybody walking towards a broken door, all in one inch by 2 1/2 inches of space. but when u learn from marc silvestri, u learn some tricks.
im posting this for all the non believers in my male drawing skillz. this is indeed proof i can draw a guy. me like me super heros with the shwarzenneger size muscles. makes em look more bad ass. i find that a lot of blk and shadows also helps accomplish that.
some would say that its just a guy posing, kinda true. draw a lead hero with facial expressions when he's suppose to look like he can kick ur ass and see if it works. ever see stalone smiling when he's about the throw down?? no! remember the movie troy? with mr pitt as the lead? he did WAYYY too much face acting, and it was so bad!!
some tips: tilt the head down a little, harden his expression, add a little shadow, fist clenched and flex the forearm muscles to tighten and lock the rist, so it looks like he's ready to strike at the drop of a dime. power stance, even weight distributed on both legs and square shoulders to let the reader know, if u hit him, he aint moving. hair blowing adds a moodier feel.
this image is about maybe three or four yrs old.
marc designed this character and costume. he's a genius!!
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School Grrls
this is Gen13's fairchild and roxy. this is yet another convention commission i did.
u know, when ever i get comm to do these things, the one thing that always stays consistant is the sexy elament. its not always tasteful or appropriate buts its what sells and what readers want to buy. even from other women, they all want sexy. and really i dont mind, its fun for me and im good at it.
im not a big fan of the skuu grl thing, i dont see the appeal versus some other things u can dress up a woman as. but its what the guy wanted. i looked at his gallerie of other commissions of these same two characters. and they are all in the same theme. and nearly all of them had thier skirts being pulled up or down. typical. but theres not much u can do with that can u?
so i tried to do something original, and i liked what i came up with, but i still wanted it to be sexy, cause the collecter also had nudity in his collection. so i figure he likes to see the ladies in the buff. so i was like man thats an easy fix, i'll just through her ass in the air. now poses are not easy to make look natural, especially when u dont have refference to look at.
roxy, the girl in the back was the challenge. in the comics she is not sexy at all, and has a flat chest and is short and cute. so i tried to delv into her mind as well. and what she would be thinking if she had to catch a swinging 500bl redhead. so i closed her eyes, as i've seen real women do, clench her teeth, but making a weird face on top of that. and bucked her knees. i think that was plenty to get the weeker, cuter rather than sexy appeal across. the forshortening of her arm is always difficult, especially when u only have two hrs to do this and a list of others to finish too.
i alway say that its better to put some kinda background on a piece, environments are always good to get a more grouned feel.
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Broken Trinity 3
this is the darkness/witchblade/angelus for broken trinity #3 for a topcow (my day job) comic exclusive cover.
i finished this one this early this morning. i DO NOT like to go into the office on a friday night. i HATE it. but i felt like being alone, so i cancelled my plans and went in cause i knew everybody else would be either out or at home. i draw best at night and alone. its easier to get into the "zone", when u have no distractions around. everything is closed at 3 or 4am, everybody u know is sleeping as well as editors. im not sure how long it took, but i left the office at 5am. it was a nice drive home. no LA traffic at that time on a sat morning.
not much thought went into this drawing as my boss Mr. Marc Silvestri himself practicaly layed out the design for me. he took three of my other layout designs and combined them to make a better piece. i cant say or do anything about it, because he's always right and he's been drawing professionaly as long as i've been alive. unfortunately, in the end...i dont feel as happy with a piece cause its not mine all my own. i didnt creat the magic behind the talent. oh well. the piece is better off for it anyway.
drawing three characters on a cover is typically easier then drawing two. i know how this sounds buts its true. how can 3 figures be easier then 2? well, with two, there's always the risk of dead space in between the two characters and having ur eye go straight to that dead space and gaze upon nothing. thats called bad composition. with 3 characters, its almost done for u already. stick one in the middle and one on either side, top or bottom. triangle composition is always the easist and sure compission u could do. its almost never wrong. oh, sure it could be approved upon like mine. but still not wrong.
witchblade is always so fun to do. plus her costume never covers very much, and u all know how much i like to draw the ladies. but the other reason is that she can make up anything with her powers. so i drew her with a sword and shield ready for battle. this book after all (i think) is about good vs evil. so instead of the usual sexy centre figure that i normally do, i went for a more badass feel. again, stern look, tilt head down..and even distrobution of weight in the upper vs lower body. power stance u know?
im not a big fan of drawing anything very big, and the darkness in the lower left corner is pretty damn big. the paper is 11x17. u are almost drawing with ur elbow rather than ur wrist to draw hair that lenth.
not much went into this piece, but i did have to stop a lot and set the drawing down in front of me and stare at it awhile and make sure the proportions were ok....but mostly staring at all the "overlapping" in this thing. and to make sure its not all cluttered and confusing. stopping so much really kills the. mojo
well, this is not my typical convention commission that takes me only an hr and a half to 2hrs. this is a fully detailed (using a lead holder that u have to sharpen all the time, not like those click ones i use for commissions) 11x17 that takes a lot more thought and time. and its not taken with my camera. its an actual scan.
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AIX
yet another con commission taken with a camera. urwelcome.
to be honest, i dont like posting these. they are poor quality pics cause most of them are taken with a camera. and they are normally rushed and im usually either still drunk or very typsy when i do them in my hotel room the night before i hand them over to its new owner. this particular one is no exception. but they seem to be my most veiwed, so i do it anyway. but im happy to say that this one is one of the few that i didnt really mess up on. and the face came out good too.
this pose often times looks wierd to the veiwer cause the artist normally draws the upper body as if she were standing upright while the rest of it is going away from us. understandably so. its not easy to do. i think i avoided it this time. again i dont get to use any reference when drawing these. so it shows u how important it is to study the hell out of anatomy. even if not technically. look at magazines and pictures. its what i did. i never went to art skool. but i looked at a lot of pictures...and girls walking by...hehe..
this is a character called aphrodite IX from topcow prod. one of my fav characters actually. shes a hot chick assasin with a skirt. stupid i know, but she looks good doing it.
to get this gritty effect, i use a lot of jagged scrachy lines. if u look at the beem behind her anckles u will see what i mean. to achieve this i quickly push and pull my pencil applying a little force at the end of the line, so i get a crisp line, but when my pencil lands with a little more force from when the line started, i get a blunt end. and it implies that theres a "dent" on the surface. i repeat this technique throughout the drawing. to do it on a round or curved surface, i just draw them closer together and curve them, like i did on that round thing at the very bottom right of the paper.
to be honest, there is no real science behind the organic tech i drew. granted there is a right and wrong way to do it. but u kinda have to not think about it. i lightly move my hand real fast and practically scribble all over the place. and i find it works best for me. even when i drew the gun...scribble. i think it works cause there are no "intentionally" placed lines. they are all happy accidents. but keeping composition in mind.
the figure was a piece of pie, i've drawn many a hot chick and it comes pretty natual to me now. plus i LOVE asses, especially asses in thongs.
an hr and a half drawing all done with a simple click pencil. it saves me the sharpening time.
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Sara pistol
this is my very FIRST witchblade cover for the regular series i've done in my 9yr career there.
when asked to do a few covers for the book, i was excited, i love drawing the witchblade....but when i sat down at my desk and was staring at the blank pg... was torn. where do i start? i have free reign, as i dont have to follow any script. i can draw what ever i want....for my first cover, do i draw sexy? do i draw her in action?? so, knowing how important this stage in drawing is, i knew this cover was not going to materialize anytime soon. so in the mean time, i busted out my sketchbook, and on the right side margin (im left handed) i do my usual thumbnails to see what direction i wanted to take our heroin in. i think i jotted down maybe 7 thumbs....and they dont come easily when u want to do a good job. often time i close my eyes and sit back in my chair (high back leather with head rest..comfty) and visualize all the characteristic and emotions and weapons i could possibly use. shes a cop, wears a jacket most of the time, these days. and can form just about anything with the witchblade. i came up with one of her flying with wings (which i did the layout for and looks awesome, cant wait to draw it)
i finally decided to go against my strenth and NOT do sexy. i didnt want my first cover to make readers go, typical eric, drawing her sexy and half naked. and i think it was a good desition. plus, its more in keeping with her character as a badass cop.
instead of her usual jaket, i gave her a trench coat to have a more dark, cape crusader look. things flapping in the wind all in black always has a striking effect. plus, i had the witchbade popping out of her shoulder, long and sharp to help create a dangerous sinister look. i beleive clenched fist always give a more powerful feel, and the stance is important as well. not sure i pulled it off here. i kept setting down the paper and standing back to see what the hell was bugging me about her stance...i even shrunk it down in a photo copy, but i could not see it. oh well., im sure some of u opinionated ppl will be sure and point it out.
i also gave her left (our right) arm, a rim light and drew no detail, and left it all white to let the colorer know to put some moon rim light, to help give a moody feel. i normally dont draw so much black on a female figure, doesnt normally come out good. and if u dont know what ur doing, u might royally screw it up. so if u attempt to do it, be sure to use reference or open a can of kickass. but in this case i thought it appropriate. i tried to put rim light in her hair, and the bottom of her hair thats flowing has a lot of blk. especially near her ear and neck. not easily done.
one of the more succesful faces ive drawn for this specific look, as i dont have much experience drawing them. i do the pouty, sexy lips thing all the time and can do it in my sleep.
didnt have much reference for the brigde, so i winged most of it. i always believed that backgrounds always enhance an image, so try and bite the bullet all u aspiring artist, and do an awesome background
hope u like
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Ian
did this one of nottingham of topcow's witchblade in belgium for my #1 fan.
this is technically my very first full figure (human) male character commissions i've ever done. i did half of him once before.
anyways, i did this one last of the three i was commissioned for from one person. i had to do two other female ones, which were a piece a pie compared. while i was doing the other two, i kept thinking of how i was going to do this pain in the ass comm. ( i even tried to talk this guy out of requesting a male figure...i tried and tried and he would not bugde) see, woman are easy for me not cause im good at it, but using grey scale and rendering, makes the woman look soft. and thats great cause that's what woman are...but i cannot use the same technique to draw men. men are not suppose to look soft, and pretty...well at least not the comic type. so i had to mentally plan ahead...the blacks and greys and how they would seperate from each other, and not over lap and get all fused together.
all the while, i was like...what would jim lee do?? hehe that actually really helped as a launching pad for me. the only thing i realyl fully drew out was his head. the rest of it was layed loosely in pencil. as i cant waist much time, cause i needed to get to bed. (by the time i was done, i had to get up in three hrs and "stand" and meet and great fans all day...not easy) so i figure, go with the simple extreme down lit figure, so to keep most of it blk. and blk is good with contrast. plus his costume is blk.
what was so confusing was the layers. for example, the fire going down his chest is high in contrast torwards his waist line..but because its surrounded all in blk...but should i shade in grey tone the rest of his jacket to make the fire stand out more on his chestand rib cage?? i dont know...(and to be honest the reason i dont know is because i have no experience in this. so when i say "practice practice" i mean "preactice practice practice" and if i had practiced drawing men more, i wouldnt have this prob) same with the pants...should they have been all grey?? def not all blk..but could have the figure stood out more if in grey? not sure.
i shouldve ruled out the perspective on the buildings, but like i said i was in a hotel in belgium when i drew this (not drunk this time...as i drew this before the con, and i dont drink by myself...so not much change when my vision is not blurred no??) so i just "winged" the vanishing points with a grey marker...i used a lighter marker for the buildings in the far back...i tried not to think about the detail in the buildings like i normally do. i find that things can wind up looking stiff if u over think it. so i just dove in and moved my hand all over the place. i used gothom city as a stepping stone. i like how organic those buildings seem to look. i make sure not to let the buildings fade or blend together..so leaving white space in between them helps..plus it looks like mist...or bright city lights.
i didnt have any white out with me...so i had to again..plan ahead. if u look closely, some of the lines dont connect on his shoulders and arms without planning ahead this wouldnt have happened..i wanted the rain to really stand out and be bright from the lightning in the back. i didnt plan the glare from the sword out right..so not having white out...no glare on the sword.
to top everything off, i decided (like a dumb ass) to go with the complicated upshot and have forshortening be a factor. forshortening is always difficult and ppl are always quick to point out errors when u make them. i know i messed up, but like i said..i was tired and thirsty and had to go to sleep. i do think the top of his head is a little too big. and the anatomy looks kinda off..oh well, over all, im happy with it
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Also found on Ebas' Deviant Art and mirrored here for the sake of having it all in one cool place ;)
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