Black History Month 2020

I really wanted to do something cool for Black history month this year so me and the homies at Identity decided to do Black characters or people that have inspired us through the years. It's been really fun so far and Steel was my first submission. A character that I love and was the lead character in the first comic I ever bought from a real live comic book store.

Steel

Making Moves

Superman in color

Superman rough

This Superman was the first thing I drew when I got back on my feet from surgery. Superman is kind of my totem. He makes me feel strong. The drawing just jumped right out of me. I think the colored version misses the mark a bit. I think I'll come back to this one at some point and see if I can bring back some of the energy from the sketch

Happy New Year!

Superman concept illustration for animated pitch

Happy New Year everyone! 2019 has come and gone and just like everyone else, I had so many ups, downs and milestones. Work was a huge challenge this year, but i would like to think I've grown from the experience. My biggest milestone was getting a brand new kidney and getting a fresh start with my health. @pengpengart @vickeygaylord @likefifty2cardswentout all helped me get back on my feet after the surgery along with my in-laws. I couldn't ask for a better family.
2020 is gonna start with a bang. There are a lot of new things in the works and I'm really looking forward to sharing all of it with you guys. Thanks for making this a great year!

A Job For Superman

I gotta admit. It's tough trying to keep all my social media current while working full time. When I get home from the studio, I am just wiped out. So far I'm still on top though. I've been posting regularly and making good growth in my work. It may be small things, but I am actually making myself better by pushing to get things done and experimenting with new techniques.

These 2 handsome guys are part of a pitch I did for a Superman show that didnt go anywhere. I still feel pretty strongly about it so I might just keep moving forward and refining the pitch and taking another shot at showing it to WB at some later date. So for now you guys can enjoy the art and get a glimpse of what I had planned for the man of steel

Full Time All The Time

Super Friends line up

I I have a really great idea for a Super Friends reboot. This is more or less the art style I would go with. A really exaggerated fun looking show for kids that adults can enjoy as well.

SUPER POWERS

Superman vs Lex Luthor

It's Monday, and I think that makes it a perfect time to post some Superman fan art. I'm always inspired by the art from the classic Super Powers toy line. Not incidentally, if I ever get to design a Superman show this would be the style.

Begin Again

Superman story illustration sketch

After far too long I've come back to my blog. The last couple of years I have focused primarily on building my instagram presence without giving much attention to my other digital outlets. After having a huge life change with a kidney transplant, I've decided that moving forward in animation and comics is going to require me to deliver more in order to be visible to a wider audience. Now that the surgery is done and I'm recovering and have more energy than I have in years it's time to make moves.

This piece was one of the first things I drew after the surgery so I decided it should be the first thing I share. The first of many!

Kingdom Come

In honor of recording an episode of a podcast with super cool dude Eric Esquivel I wanted to post this Superman sketch I did over the weekend. I really couldn't sleep on Saturday night and this sketch got me through.

New Superman Art

Superman print art by me! Colors by Gabriel Cassata

Emerald City Con is next Weekend! I'm so excited about the show! PENG and I will be attending as guests this year. It's going to be fantastic. We love Seattle and ECCC is one of the greatest cons out there. I'll be doing a signing at the Boom! Studios booth on Sunday, but for most of the show I'll be at Artist Alley I-06. Come out and chill with us if you are planning to come to the show. We'll have plenty of prints, and comics plus it's the perfect time to pick up a custom sketch from us. I also wanted to post my new Superman print! The colors are by the super talented Gabriel Cassata.

See ya there!

Man of Steel Review

Superman breakin sum chains! Lines by me

Line up of Superman cast in my style

I'm a little late to throw my 2 cents in on Man of Steel, but I can't go another day without weighing in on it. First off I gotta say that I'm a huge Superman Fan. You probably already know that, but I figure I have to get that out in the open. I went into this bad boy as open minded as I could. I wanted to leave all my Superman baggage at the door and just take in the flick and let it be it's own thing.

So I gotta say I flat out loved the movie. I think some of the critics have been overly harsh and really missed the point of the movie. Zach Snyder and crew set out to tell a fun, fast paced action story and they did a hell of a job. The entire movie was just breath taking and the visual effects just blew me away. All the actors did a great job. Amy Adams was a fantastic Lois. She really brought heart to the character and made her believable and relatable. Lois wasn't just a damsel in distress. She was a touchstone for Superman's humanity. Henry Cavil as Clark/Superman was amazing as well. I wasn't sure what to expect from him, but first off he was huge! He put on a lot of muscle to fill Superman's boots. It was a huge jump from the last movie I saw him in (Immortals). He did a great job on his American accent and his acting was on the money. There where opportunities for him to really show some range and emotion and I was totally sold.The Kryptonian villains also brought their A game. I couldn't have asked for better casting in a Super hero film.

I won't go to deep into the play by play of the movie, but i think the big thing that rubbed critics the wrong way was the violence in the movie. SPOILER ALERT At the end of the movie's climactic battle with Superman and Zod a huge chunk of Metropolis has been reduced to ash and the 2 Kryptonians duke it out over what's left of the city. Things really get amped up and the fists fly. The scene itself is pretty brutal, but I think that it's totally necessary to lead to the films ultimate conclusion. When all else fails and it is obvious that Zod will never stop trying to kill Superman and destroy the human race Kal has no choice but to kill Zod. The tension at this point of the movie was so tense in the theater that everyone in the audience gasped at the sound of Zod's neck breaking. I know that on it's face peopl are expecting that Superman would have found another way or maybe that is something Superman simply wouldn't do. I would argue that Superman has actually killed Zod in the comics before ( in an execution no less). I honestly feel like it was best for the moment in the movie and I think the makers of the movie pulled so much from the comics to make a good movie that this was something they simply couldn't ignore. Not to mention it's tough to surprise people when it comes to Superman and they did just that.

Ive seen Man of Steel twice and I'm hoping to catch it in theaters at least one more time. I actually liked it better the second time! So if you are on the fence I say you gotta get out there treat yourself to one great movie.

Back From Wizard Philly Off to Heroes

The Franchize and Superman? who needs the JLA?

Amanda sketch cover commission

Flash. Peng, and Me.

Batman sketch cover commission. I had waaaay too much fun on this

just the inks

more Bats!

TheFranchize bot 2031

Amanda cosplaying as Harley Quinn!

another fun commission piece!

I hardly know where to start. Wizard World Philly was just amazing. The ID Comics team and I had a great time and we probably did more commission pieces than we ever have at a single show. I really want to thank everyone who came out and hung with us. You all really made this trip to Philly an amazing one. I really can't wait to go back next year.

The photos I'm posting are from all the great stuff that happened at the show, plus all the cool commission pieces.

Oh yeah, and maybe most importantly, I got to meet Superman! yup Brandon Routh in the flesh. It was fantastic.

Up next is Heroes in Charlotte. We always have a great time at Heroes so I figure this trip is gonna be pretty bananas. Peng and I will be hanging out at the BOOM! booth chatting and doing sketches while Flash holds down the fort in Artist Alley at tables AA218/AA219. So if you are gonna be in the area you gotta come out and say hey. 

See ya there!

Bunch of Sketches

This year I want to produce a super dope artbook and have some really cool prints for con season. So I've been doing warm up sketches with an eye toward creating some work that can be polished up and used in the book and at cons.

These images that I'm posting today are a bunch of the rough sketches that will hopefully lead to some hot finished pieces.

Wonder Woman

Wolverine Vs Sabertooth

Superman then and now

Gizmo Duck and Darkwing Duck

Wolverine

TMNT

Spider-Man and the Sinister Six

Thunder Cats

X-Men

I Can Give as Good as I Get

Fan art by me inspired by Superman 3

all finished up!

So all four of the original Superman movies came on back to back yesterday and I caught a good bit of Superman 3 and got inspired. I know a lot of folks don't really get into that one, but I think It is a great flick with a ton of great moments. my favorite part of the movie is when Superman splits into Superman and Clark and they fight it out at the dump. It's just great on film. so any how I did this sketch yesterday and I had a few spare seconds today so I did a quick color treatment. I'm really hoping I can finish this one up the way I see it in my head. (EDIT: I totally stayed up waaaay to late finishing this up. I wanted it to almost look animated. so there ya go all done!)

There is plenty of other stuff going on right now. I'm doing a few covers and FVZ is in full swing. The Baltimore Comic Con is this weekend so look for me and the ID Crew (Peng, Flash, and Domo) to be set up and selling books and prints. I'll also be doing signings at the BOOM! Studios booth so bring your comics I would love to sign em up!

I'll also have a new Green Lantern print for sale. I really tried hard to get all the important ones in there!

Green Lantern corps fan art by me!

designing and covers

Mega Man sketch

Wonder Woman sketch

Superman sketch

This week everything is in high gear. I bangin out pages and some cover assignments. Things are going pretty well, and I'm finding a little time to do some art for me. Here is a little Mega Man fan art, Wonder Woman and a Superman sketch just because.

Philly Con! and a New Superman!

fun Superman fan art I did with a costume I made up

It's been forever since the ID crew and I have done a Philly con so it really feels great to be going back. Peng-Peng, Flash, and I will be at tables 2003 and 2005 the entire weekend so if you are gonna be at the show we would love to say hi. We'll be doing the usual, signing comics, doing commissions and pretty much chatting it up with all the folks who come by the table.

And because I know all you nice folks can never get enough of my Superman art I figured I would drop the above art on yall. This is another costume idea I had for Supes in a more traditional comic style I've been flirting with.

See ya in Philly!

More Pendant

Last Son of Krypton audio drama issue #81

Another Pendant cover! I was really happy with the colors on this one. Plus it's always fun to take a stab at the bad guys. Lots of work and many things going on this week. I'm working hard to stay on schedule and keep all my projects in order. It helps that it is a slower time of year for gigs. It gives me the chance to really put in some quality time at the ol' art table

Pendant to the MAX

Last Son of Krypton issue #84

This is the newest cover for "The Last Son of Krypton" audio drama from Pendant Audio. I have always loved the warrior queen Maixima (who is featured on the cover). She just has a great look and is just fun to draw. Check out the show and let me know what yall think.

Later!

Happy New Year!

Hey everyone! I just thought I would start my first post of the new year with a page from my artbook Start Up Capital . This is one of my favorites because I love sketchin up ol' Supes so much. I reinterpreted a few pages from the first issue of Superman Batman.

I hop u all had a great Holiday season. I had the best time with family and friends. now I'm ready to rock on in the 2012!

How to Draw Like the Franchize!

Today I'm starting a brand new part of my site. The "How to" section. Every second Tuesday of the month I'll be posting a new "How to" piece to share a little of what I know about drawing dramatic figures.

quick gesture sketch

I figured that my first drawing should be of Superman cuz he is really fun for me to draw and I am most familiar with his look. Plus the tights make it easy to get the anatomy. Today's tools are photoshop CS5 and my wacom tablet. To begin I start with a blank layer and quickly rough in the gesture. This is really the most important stage. If you want to have a dynamic figure it all starts here. The best way to learn to make dynamic poses is to go out and study your favorite artists work and try to figure out how to create a quick gesture based on their art. it will take you a long way in trying to understand the figure in motion.

Squiggley Lines!

Next is the part that I like most... SQUIGGLEY LINES! This is where I find the right pieces of the puzzle and start to fill out my sketch. I really like to push proportion so here you can see that Superman's head is pretty small compared to his chest. I have similarly exaggerated his legs and arms. I have also decided to really play with foreshortening his arms to give the figure a sense of depth. A lot of artist have trouble with this at first, but it gets easier with practice. The trick is if something is close to you its big and if it's far away it's small. I take that a step further and say that if something is close it should be REALLY BIG and if it's far away then it's REALLY SMALL.

refining the art

Here I really get into his anatomy and defining his costume. I wouldn't necessarily encourage anyone to study the way I draw anatomy because my style is very exaggerated. I have done quite a bit of study and really put a lot of thought into how I push and pull muscle groups to get what I want.

Finished!

Last I go over everything and clean up the line work. I only keep the lines I like and get rid of the rest. Because I'm working in photoshop each step is on a different layer so I don't have to worry about erasing anything.  Next month COLORS!

Well, that's the end of my first lesson. Hope it was helpful. Thanks for stopping by!

The End?

Why is it that things have to bee so tough? Sometimes it's like the world just can't throw enough crap my way. Money is tighter than it has been in quite a while which makes everything tough, plus gas has finally reached over $4.00 where I live. Even Superman has given up on "truth, justice and the American way". I think the worst part is the mood I've been in lately. It's hard to stay motivated when so many things seem to be stacked against me. (Sorry for all the venting folks)

Now that I've gotten the belly aching out of my system I know what I really need to do is buckle down and make something happen. No matter how tough things are I'm not built to quit. There is a great quote from Superman III...little Ricky finds Superman who has been affected with some new kryptonite in a bar getting drunk and terrorizing people with his heat vision. Ricky tells Superman that "He's just in a slump. He can be great again!". Right now I know I'm in a slump, but I can be great again too.

So I'm not giving up. It's time to get down to business and prove that I really am the "World's Greatest" (those that know me best will know about that).

Next week I'm sure I'll have better news to report. I'll keep my fingers crossed.