My Fan Art: '90s Wolverine

'90s Wolverine, 2014
14 x 20", acrylic on paper

My nostalgia for '90s comics is pretty well documented here, though I read far more from this era here in my adulthood than I did in those late-teen years. There was a lot to be critical about with the garish costumes, strange characters, and overcooked dialogue, but I've found some favorites like Spider-Man 2099, Cable, and X-Force therein. At the start of that decade, the X-Men were getting bigger than ever, with several titles on the stands at once. Wolverine was a favored character of mine then,as he is still now, to myself and a million other Marvel fans around the world.

I did the initial drawing of this pretty quickly, and my gestural sketch ended up with Maurice Sendak feet that I ended up leaving in my painting on paper- Wolverine has boots of course, but I liked the talon feet! It's not my best drawing, and possesses an amateurish quality I could not seem to mask, but I had fun with it. For whatever reason, I liked seeing the X-Men in Jim Lee's '90s blue and yellow, Logan unmasked with his wild hair, and a big red belt around his waist. I wanted him to look crazy, and unintentionally or not, I did succeed there   :D   Check out the Spider-Man I painted last winter!

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My Fan Art: Werewolf By Night!

Happy Halloween! For this post I wanted to share my latest piece of comics inspired art, Marvel's Werewolf By Night!  I recently picked up the second Marvel Essential volume of this title at a local Comic Con, and have enjoyed it thoroughly. As a kid I was fascinated by werewolves, and while there are some goofy moments in the book, it's been a fun read  for the month of October! Werewolf By Night first appeared in Marvel Spotlight back in 1972, soon thereafter getting his own book, running 43 issues up until 1977. The anti-hero has since resurfaced several times in limited series, including a 90's stint in Morbius the Living Vampire. I'm an old fine art painter, so this was done with acrylic & brush on 14 x 20" watercolor paper using the book only as a reference, the drawing completely original and not directly copied from the Don Perlin work within. I tried to make it as close to Marvel "house style" as I could in this method, and though I'll never be a comic book artist, it's fun to revisit my childhood fantasy as such. Check out the Spider-Man I painted last January.

*Read more about Werewolf By Night at at MarvelWikia.Com!

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My Fan Art: Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man, 2013
acrylic, colored pencil on paper, 14 x 20"

I've been reading A LOT of  Avenging Spider-Man lately, inspired by my impulse purchase of Amazing Spider-Man #700, and subsequent pick-up of the new Superior Spider-Man #1. The latter has now bled into Avenging Spider-Man, issue #16, thrilling this dork to no end. Spidey was definitely a favorite character from childhood, and remains so to this day. His youthful exuberance and inherent goodness appeal to me greatly, and his wisecracking ways are a refreshing contrast to the often deadly situations he's put into helping others. Everybody loves Spidey!

This rendering of ol' Webhead is my own mix of Manga Spidey (no sleeves), with Ultimate Spidey (no "boots"). He's also inspired by the Hasbro Grappling Hook Spider-Man action figure I picked up this past July, modeled after Manga Spidey.  A friend asked where his sleeves went, and lamented over their omission, "... well, I don't read much Manga, but it's classic Spidey for me." The truth is that I don't read much Manga either, and am a big fan of Ditko's classic design, but why copy when you can interpret in your own voice? I want to see something new. Remember the first time you saw Spider-Man? Would be hard to remember, but you were probably very interested at that moment. Spider-Man is so iconic, we tend to forget how exciting that character is, what a great idea he was. How do I get that feeling back.. that feeling I had the first time I saw that? Like the Superman I painted recently, I made it new again, by making it my own.  He's my Spidey.

As a kid in school I dreamt of being a comic book artist- I went on to attend school and became a working fine artist. The influence of comics is highly evident in my work today, and though my style developed in a different direction, it did retain a dramatic and narrative quality. Those comic artists are just in a league above and beyond me, but it's still fun way to use my imagination, and that's what we do here Friends  :D

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My Fan Art: Man of Steel

Man of Steel, 2012

acrylic on 140 lbs. watercolor paper

14 x 20"

 

My new painting of Superman! I mixed a little classic Man of Steel, some Doug Mahnke Final Crisis & Lee's New 52, Chris Reeve's spit curl, and color influence from a DC Superfriends toy I have. I loved the coloring on this variant Superman so much that I didn't I didn't even attempt to land the regular/conventional version...

 

 

I know a lot of folks were less than thrilled with DC's recent New 52 reboot, and Jim Lee's redesign of Superman's iconic costume, stripping the Man of Steel of his shorts and running armor lines throughout the figure. It was jarring to see initially, but I eventually came to appreciate it. I was admittedly mildly bored with the story in the New 52 Justice League, but the artwork was really great. I haven't gotten around to reading either of the New 52 Superman titles, but am slightly more interested in reading the New Krypton books first.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of variants, I also loved the New 52 Earth 2 Superman costume- a shame they killed him off in the first issue, LOL! The art was also great in this book, and the story was a little better than the New 52 Justice League.

 

 

 

Supes was painted all in brush with acrylic, no pens, on 14 x 20" watercolor paper. As I've said before, as a kid in school I dreamt of being a comic book artist- I went on to attend school and became a working fine artist. The influence of comics is highly evident in my work today, and though my style developed into a more abstract vernacular, it did retain a dramatic and narrative quality. Those comic artists are just in a league above and beyond me- lightning fast and SUPER-talented! Still, I occasionally enjoy illustrating a favorite hero, and starting this blog a couple years ago reignited that unrealized dream.

 

* See my painting of Superman (as Nightwing) rescuing the city of Kandor from Brainiac! 

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My Fan Art: Guardian Kal

"Guardian Kal"

14 x 20"

acrylic on 140 lbs. watercolor paper

Here's something different for me- fan art with a cyber mate in hero mode, our own Cal from the Cave of Cool!  I've felt for awhile that Cal would be an interesting subject, and a month ago I got the idea from a pic on his far-out blog with the bearded one peeking through the band on his headphones. It looked as though he were wearing some kind of visor, somehow sparking the thought of our shared enthsiasm for the modern Guardians of the Galaxy. His beard, the whole Cave of Cool mystique, and the many renderings done of him by artists & fellow bloggers who read his frequent postings just lent itself well to my imagination. I spelled his name with a "k" like Kal-El/Superman, as he is sometimes adressed. I imagine Kal recruited by Peter Quill/Starlord to join the reunited team, using his cool wits and raygun (The Fridge) to help battle the dread Dormammu to the death at the North Pole! ...or Manitoba? Or where our new recruit was weaned by wolves in Northern Quebec? So much to work with here, People...

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My Fan Art: The Rescue of Kandor

The Rescue of Kandor, 2012

acrylic, colored pencil, pen on 140 lbs. watercolor paper

14 x 20"

I've been pecking at this one for over a year, having to put it aside to work on a large collection of over twenty canvases for a big art show this past spring in the city. I stopped work on these in December to whip out a Captain America painting for my nephew, but then went right back to work on the show. As I've said before, I'm not really a comic book artist- these are merely fun distractions from my usual body of work. When I was a kid in school, I dreamt of being a comic book artist, but those guys are just in a league above and beyond me- lightning fast and super-talented! Still, I occasionally crank out an illustration of a favorite hero, and starting this blog in 2010 renewed interest in that. This one may have been a tad overambitious for my level of ability, but it was a good effort- time to move to the next one!

The idea for The Rescue of Kandor came from two action figures I reviewed here on the Super-DuperToyBox recently: DC Direct History of the DC Universe Superman (as Nightwing) and Brainiac. For those of you not familiar with the origin of Nightwing: before Dick Grayson assumed the alias, Superman (his favorite superhero) used the moniker as a vigilante in the Kyptonian city of Kandor. The former capital city had been miniaturized and bottled by the supervillain Brainiac. Rescued by Superman, it has been traditionally kept and monitored in the Fortress of Solitude. In the more recent New Krypton storyline, Superman finds Kandor on Brainiac's ship, recovering the bottled city after their confrontation. But without Brainiac's control, the field surrounding the city that keeps it miniaturized becomes unstable. Superman takes Kandor to the North Pole where it expands to its original size, freeing all of Kandor's citizens, all of whom gain powers just like Superman upon release from the bottle and exposure to Earth's yellow sun.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

"Built To Last" 2006

magazine collage, stickers, glitter, acrylic on masonite
10 x 8"

Though he's not really a superhero, I know many of my fellow dorks would enjoy this collage I created back in 2006 featuring Optimus Prime with the Japanese dancing robot  :D   This technique involved skimming through magazines to find characters, colors, & patterns I could cut out & paste down to make a little story- this one telling of a love "built to last". Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!

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My Captain America Painting

"Captain America" 2011
acrylic on canvas, 8 X 10"

Some of you may or may not know that I'm an artist, selling and showing my paintings here in the Midwest. When I was a kid in school, I dreamt of being a comic book artist, but went on to discover all other kinds of art while attending college many years ago. I still like to crank out an occasional illustration of a favorite hero, and starting this blog last year reignited that interest. I painted this little Captain America canvas for my nephew for Christmas this year, a memento of our trip to the theatre to see the Captain America: The First Avenger this past summer. Needless to say, we are anxious for the new Avengers movie due out this forthcoming summer. I obviously styled Cap after Jack Kirby's rendering of the Marvel hero, but painted his shield over the edge of the gallery-wrapped canvas to give it a modern presentation. I had a great time making this one!

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My Fan Art: Martian Manhunter

"Martian Manhunter" 2011
acrylic on paper, 14 x 20

Some of you may or may not know that I'm an artist here in the City of The Great Confluence. I've painted here for 14 years or so, and have done okay at this, last year selling over thirty paintings, my best year yet. When I was a kid in school, I dreamt of being a comic book artist, but those guys are just in a league above and beyond me- lightning fast and SUPER-talented! Still, I occasionally crank out an illustration of a favorite hero, and starting this blog last year reignited that unrealized dream.

I painted J'onn J'onnz in acrylic on paper a couple months ago, and while I won't likely receive any job offers from DC comics, it was a fun distraction from the type of art I more typically create nowadays. I'm currently working on another featuring Superman (as Nightwing) rescuing the bottled Kryptonian City of Kandor from Brainiac, which is shaping up to be pretty hilarious- Stay Tuned!

*The Idol-Head of Diabolu Martian Manhunter Blog!