Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Phoenix II (Rachel Summers)

Phoenix II - Rachel Summers

Here is the original entry for Phoenix to the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe".

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And here is my entry for Phoenix to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux.

I read X-Men back when I was an early teen and really liked the aesthetic look of the Rachel Summers version of Phoenix in issue #199 (yes, kids, I'm really that old).  So, when it became available for the OHotMU:Redux, I had to grab it!

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STEP ONE:  OK, I decided to go through and do some really quick thumbnails to find a good pose (each one was just a couple-a-few minutes).  I decided to go with "E".  In some ways, I almost like the thumbnail pose better than the finished picture... Oh, well.

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STEP TWO:  I blew up the thumbnail and got to work digitally inking over the top.  I then did some flat grayscale and then flat color over top of that.  I then used that as a base to start building up more highlights and some shadows, as well. 

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STEP THREE:  I then added New Layers and kept building colors on top of each section, which I broke down into Red, Yellow, Skin Tones/Hair.  Once finished, I erased the white and added something vaguely Phoenix-shaped energies as the background. 

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For those of you who are interested, here is an animated .gif of each step.

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This was done digitally in Photoshop

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Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Phastos

Phastos

Here is the original entry for Phastos to the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe".

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And here is my entry for Phastos to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux.

The Eternals are great fun for me.  I've always had a soft spot in my heart (some would argue the soft-spot is actually in my head) for Greek Mythology, and Jack Kirby's Eternals being the template for the Greek Myths drew me in as a kid.  Although, I have to admit it took me a few tries for me to figure out Phastos was short of Hephaestus when I first read about him; they didn't quite spell it out as directly as they did for Zuras, Ikaris, Thena, etc.  :-D 

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STEP ONE:  I created a New Document 1,000 x 1,500 pixels in PhotoShop and did some really quick digital pencils with a 50% gray.  Originally, I was gonna give him a bigger beard and some over-sized power gloves, but then decided to stick a bit more to the character sheet.

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STEP TWO:  In a New Layer, I did some digital inks over top the pencils.  As the picture turned out to be symmetrical, I just copied and flipped the arms and legs so they matched.

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STEP THREE:  I did a grayscale painting on a MULTIPLY Layer over top for lighting, then created another MULTIPLY Layer for flat colors.

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STEP FOUR:  I created several NEW LAYERS--one for each color--and add highlights and shadows over the top the flat colors.  I also decided to have some Kirbyesque Krackle radiating from the hammer.  (Queue M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This" :-)

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Created digitally in Photoshop.

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Shameless Self-Promotion...

A bit of shameless self-promotion...

My Facehugger-Valentine was listed on the Drowning Pool Facebook page on February 14, 2015.   Cool!  :-)

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Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Molecule Man

Molecule Man

Here is the original entry for the Molecule Man to the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe".

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And here is my entry for Molecule Man to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux.

I first read a story with the Molecule Man in the pages of "The Avengers" while a kid in the early 80's.  He had near-godlike power--able to manipulate inorganic matter (later, they removed that limitation and it became all matter) and some funky lightning bolt scars on his face.

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STEP ONE:  I created a New Document 1,000 x 1,500 pixels in PhotoShop and did some really quick digital pencils with a 50% gray.  Mostly, I just noodled around until I was more-or-less happy with the pose I would use.

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STEP TWO:  On a New Layer, I did some quick digital inks.

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STEP THREE:  I created a NEW LAYER set to Multiply to layout highlights and shadows.

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STEP FOUR:  I did some flat colors with a New MULTIPLY Layer.

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STEP FIVE:  I created several NEW LAYERS--one for each color--and add highlights and shadows over the top the flat colors.  Lastly, I added some vague Kirbyesque Krackle to give him some suggestion of power.

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When I was a kid, I always wondered about the lightning bolt scars on Molecule Man's face.  In this case, I decided to make some sort of suggestion that the scars are almost like seams where his face (and probably rest of his body) are just a third dimensional wrapping around the immense power he wields.  For a while, they got rid of the scars on his face, but I thought that was one of the more interesting things about him, visually.

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Created digitally in Photoshop.

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Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Fenris

Fenris

Here is the original entry for the Polaris to the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe".

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And here is my entry for Fenris to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux.

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STEP ONE:  I created a New Document 1,000 x 1,500 pixels in PhotoShop with a gray background.  This establishes a mid-tone which you can then add highlights and shadows.  I didn't bother doing too much with the jackets, as I figured I would be working on them in the top layer. 

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STEP TWO:  I did some flat colors with a MULTIPLY Layer.

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STEP THREE:  I created a NEW LAYER to add highlights and shadows over top the flat colors.  I then erased the gray background and created a new, colored background square and called it done.

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Created digitally in Photoshop.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2015!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2015!!!

Yeah, it's a picture for 2015 done on the last day of 2014.  :-D

I'm a really big fan of Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C. (One Man Army Corps), so I thought I'd do a drawing of him to ring in the new year.

A Happy New Year to All!  :-)

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Here are the pencils, which I scanned in and then colored digitally.

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This was done with pencil on 9" x 12" Strathmore drawing paper and then colored digitally in Photoshop.

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Rankin/Bass Presents... The Thing

Rankin/Bass Presents... The Thing

Just in time for the holidays -- a mash-up of the Rankin/Bass "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and John Carpenter's "The Thing".

(Click to embiggen -- or right-click on the picture and choose to view it in a new tab to see the pages full-size.)

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This was done digitally in Photoshop.

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It's a Good Life on the Island of Misfit Toys

It's a Good Life on the Island of Misfit Toys

I always assumed this is what happened to the man who was turned into a Jack-in-the-Box in the excellent Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life"...

(Click to embiggen -- or right-click on the picture and choose to view it in a new tab to see the pages full-size.)

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Two page comic done with Pen-and-Ink on 9" x 12" Bristol Board and colored in PhotoShop.

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Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Polaris

Polaris

Here is the original entry for the Polaris to the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe".

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And here is my entry to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux.  

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STEP ONE:  I created a New Document 900 x 1,500 pixels in PhotoShop.  In this case, I forgot to save an early picture of this one, so here's the finished black-and-white digital drawing.

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STEP TWO:  I did some flat colors with a MULTIPLY Layer, and then went over top with some highlights and shadows with a New Layer.

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Created digitally in Photoshop.

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The Fly (1958)

The Fly (1958)

It's the last of this batch of B-Movie Halloween drawings and I figured I'd end on the 1958 Vincent Price movie, "The Fly".  OK, I know the head of this version of the Fly is actually from "Return of the Fly" (1959), but to be honest it is more visually interesting (and more universally known) than the original.

Both the original version of "The Fly" and the Cronenberg (1986) re-make are extremely disturbing and horrific in their own way.  I remember watching the original when I was a kid and finding the movie to be terrifying in an existential way.  I never trusted the idea of a teleporter after that.  :-)

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Here are the pencils on a 8-1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock.

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Here are the inks, done with a No. 4 Round Brush and Pro-Art 4100 India Ink.

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I then scanned it into Photoshop and colorized it with a MULTIPLY Layer.

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Done with pen-and-ink on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock, colorized in Photoshop.

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This Island Earth (1955) - Metaluna Mutant

This Island Earth (1955)

Metaluna Mutant

Another Halloween B-Movie image!

If there is one image that represented aliens to my young imagination, it is the Metaluna Mutant from This Island Earth (1955).  Every book about monsters and bug-eyed aliens -- something which I sought out regularly as a kid as anything with monsters, aliens, and/or robots was guaranteed to capture my attention -- featured the Metaluna Mutant.

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Here are the pencils on a 8-1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock.

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Here are the inks, done with a No. 4 Round Brush and Pro-Art 4100 India Ink.

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I then scanned it into Photoshop and colorized it with a MULTIPLY Layer.

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Done with pen-and-ink on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock, colorized in Photoshop.

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Gojira / Godzilla (1954)

Gojira / Godzilla (1954)

Hey, it's getting close to Halloween, so I figured I'd do some more B-Movie drawings in a similar style to the ones I did last year.  (Click HERE, HERE, and HERE to see them.)  And, what better way to kick it off than with the classic Man-In-Suit Gojira / Godzilla!

OK, sure the original 1954 Gojira / Godzilla movies probably wouldn't be considered a true B-Movie, with it being more of a meditation on nuclear war and the existential threat of atomic weapons.  That said, Gojira / Godzilla did fall quickly into B-Movie monsters and is one of my childhood favorites.

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Here are the pencils on a 8-1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock.

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Here are the inks, done with a No. 4 Round Brush and Pro-Art 4100 India Ink.

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I then scanned it into Photoshop and colorized it with a MULTIPLY Layer.

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Done with pen-and-ink on 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock, colorized in Photoshop.

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Ultraman

Ultraman

OK, I decided to take a little break between projects.  

I checked out the entire run of Ultraman from our local library.  It was a show which I only caught a few times as a kid, but I was always intrigued by him.  And, with the new "Godzilla" movie being out, I was feeling a little nostalgic for all those old Japanese shows.  Because of that, I thought it would be fun to knock out a quick painting and post it to the Blog.  Something I should do more often, to be honest.  :-D

I also liked the series run enough that I am sure I will be doing more with Ultraman in the future.  I have a few ideas...  :-)

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STEP ONE:  Here are the pencils on Stonehenge paper which was glued to 8" x 10" hardboard.

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STEP TWO:  This was the halfway point in the painting.  I decided to use casein to paint the picture, which uses a milk-based binder for the pigment (it has a slight ammonia smell to is, as well, which can be a little off-putting to some).  I decided to play with it after reading James Gurney's Blog.  I like it quite a bit--it behaves like an odd mixture of acrylic and gouache (opaque watercolor) and is waterproof after it sets.

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STEP THREE:  Here is the finished painting.  For some reason, the brush strokes on the top half of the painting really showed through when I took the picture with my camera, but they weren't that strong on the painting itself.  Because of that, I decided to pull it fully into PhotoShop and tweak it a bit more...

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STEP FOUR:  After it was finished, I decided to just fix the background a bit and brush out some of the strong brushstrokes which kept artifacting from my camera.  I also digitally blurred the ray coming from his hand and added an airbrushed glow to the gemstone on his chest.

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Done with casein paint on 8" x 10" Stonehenge paper glued onto Medium Density Fiberboard (with an assist from PhotoShop).

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On the Easel - September 12, 2014 - Dark Knight and Batman

On the Easel

Dark Knight #4 Page Recreation 
& Batman #251 Cover Replica

I realized it has been a while since I posted an "On the Easel".  I always like to see what people are in the middle of working on, so I figured I'd inflict some of that on y'all as well.  Also, it breaks up some of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux Edition posts.  :-)

And this one's a two-fer, showing two different projects I am working on at the moment...

Click to Embiggen

First, I am currently painting a page recreation of the Batman Vs. Superman finale from "The Dark Knight Returns" #4 for a friend of mine for his birthday/Christmas present.  It is being painted with Casein (sort of like acrylic with a milk-protein based binder) on a 15" x 22" piece of Strathmore illustration board, with the image area being 12" x 16".  The under-painting is about 85% done and I'm hoping to have it finished in the next couple-a-few weeks.

Partially hidden behind the Dark Knight page, is a Cover Replica I'm working on for my pal (and probably Superman's, too), Jim, from Jimmy Jams Comics and Games, here in Winona, MN.  The replica is another Neal Adams cover, this time for "Batman #251".  It is being painted with acrylic on Stonehenge paper, which is mounted on a 20" x 30" piece of hard board.  I just started on that a couple days ago, but as it is something I generally work on during something I laughably call "spare time", it may be a month or more before you see the finished result posted.

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Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Loki (Updated)

Loki (Updated)

UPDATED: A joke so obvious that even **I** thought of it.  :-D

I sent this to Jon for his Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Redux as an alternate/joke entry for Loki (or, should I say Joki?) and he liked it enough to publish it instead of the previous Loki entry.  It seemed more appropriate for a Trickster, methinks.  :-D

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Here is the original entry for Loki in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe".

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