Bruises and Black Eyes

Gorilla warfare

2012-01-25T00:58:00.000-08:00

So, some of my very first submissions featured this big Gorilla terrorizing the streets of New York. I had shown them to Scott Dunbier, working at Wildstorm at the time, and he was good enough to take them in to the offices and show them around. When Jim finally saw the pages, he apparently said, 'Well, if we ever need a gorilla artist...'.

This cover is clearly a nod to one of my favorite artists: Phil Hale. If you're not familiar with his work, I recommend checking his stuff out immediately. His influence changed the way I thought about art in every sense. He was also my gateway drug to start experimenting with paint and color.... the guy is a genius.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2012-01-13T10:07:00.001-08:00

The cover for the first book sans credits. Beyond excited to be doing the covers for this series. It's always fun to do a character that's a bit left of center, and Lisbeth certainly fits that bill. Plus it was a nice challenge to try and visualize her differently than she's been interpreted on film. Looking forward to giving her various looks as the series progresses. You know you're enjoying a gig when you do a ton of sketches, not because you have to but because the ideas just keep coming...

Here's the official announcement via the DC blog

F.A.Q.'s part 2

2011-12-28T06:26:00.000-08:00

Posting the link to a video interview I did back in June at the Paris con. It's fairly extensive and may also provide some answers to some other questions people may have. Easier than writing it all down... I'm lazy. Plus this way people can make fun of my inability to talk without gesticulating like a crazy person.

video interview

Looking forward to posting some new stuff, but still can't for a variety of reasons. Soon.....

Winter is coming...

2011-12-15T05:37:00.000-08:00

Cover for Winter Soldier number 3. Don't like this cover for a number of reasons. Won't go into them all here (there's not enough space or time in the day) but thought I'd post anyway. It's as important to call out your failures as it is your triumphs. Best thing about this cover: It REALLY makes me want to put all I've got into the next one.

Definitely good to have something to prove every once in a while.

Pop DOES matter

2011-12-06T04:54:00.000-08:00

You really wish they were all like this. Gives me faith in journalism is general, and the idea that stimulating conversation can be created even by the most commercial of vehicles. Definitely not patting myself on the back here, simply pointing out that Shathley deserves to be read even more so than my book. Even if he'd trashed the project, I would have thoroughly enjoyed reading his take on it.

PopMatters

Oh, and for anyone that cares, I'm now on twitter if you feel like following the inane and sure to be illegible posts about my various bits and bobs (no, not talking about my genitals).

twitter.com/ljbermejo

2011-12-05T00:46:00.000-08:00

A new variant cover for Marvel and the second in a series I did for Spider-Man and Dardevil. I feel like this one works in ways the previous one didn't. Not to say it's without faults..... them's a plenty, but I'm much more satisfied with this one.

Things that work:

-Simple sky (sans clouds or other flourishes). Too much background detail. Had to keep that portion as simple as possible, hence the huge sun.

-Spidey's mask. Never quite understood why it's always tucked perfectly into his shirt. It's a separate piece right? Seems to me like he be constantly fiddling with it, like a dress shirt that's just too short to stay tucked in your pants.

Things that don't work.

-Pigeons. Mostly because I hate birds. You can't tell what they're thinking....

-Spidey's right leg. Just looks off to me.

Because I'm a WHORE PT. 2

2011-11-29T00:08:00.000-08:00

Even sluttier.....

New York Times

I Know It's Over

2011-11-21T07:10:00.001-08:00

Mother...I can feel...

the soil falling over my head.

,)

Love that song....

F.A.Q.'s

2011-11-15T04:42:00.000-08:00

OK, wanted to answer a few common questions I get. Also wanted to post this Spider-Man piece. The two have nothing in common, but that's just the way my brain is working today.

1. What is you technique?

Fairly simple. Pencil, ink, graphite, and ink wash. I still do things fairly traditionally. The drawings go from lose pencils to line art form in ink. From there I render on top of the ink with pencil and then go back on top of that with ink wash to darken areas further and blend. In the past few months, I've integrated the CINTIQ into my process, but mainly just for pencils and colors. I've been experimenting with laying out things digitally so that I have more freedom to play around. It's been very liberating, and hopefully will allow the drawings to have more life at the end of the day. I then print them out on board, ink them and finish rendering the same way as before.

2. What tools do you use?

F and B pencils, microns for line work and Da Vinci synthetic brushes (They only last a few pages but I love the way the ink flows). Ink is Windsor Newton. In the computer I use Photoshop and occasionally Painter.

3. Do you use photo reference?

Yes, when I can, though I like to keep things as reference free as possible. Sometimes I'll take a quick photo in photobooth of myself if I need to see how gloves or sleeves fold, and for covers I've taken full on reference when dealing with particularly tricky poses. Generally, though, I'm very lazy when it comes to shooting ref. I like to draw things first and then use a picture after wards to tweak and add little elements of chaos I wouldn't have thought of. This seems to be the best way for me to avoid things looking too overly photographic. Also, it's great ref for your ref. ;) Obviously, there's a lot that you just can't photograph. Batman is a perfect example. He comes from that fucked up place called my head.

4. Do you think Carlos D'Anda is one sexy mofo?

Yes.

If anybody has anything else they'd like to know, ask below and I'll try to answer them from time to time.

And now for something completely different...

2011-11-11T02:05:00.000-08:00

Winter Soldier covers. Steely. Tried to go as Michael Mann as possible on these. I HATE drawings guns.... anything non organic really. These were a challenge for that reason alone...

Because I'm a WHORE...

2011-11-10T02:18:00.001-08:00

.... here are some more reviews from around the web. I know, I know, it's in bad form but hey, I put a book out once every three years!!! ;)

Batman-news.com

IGN.com

Newsarama

Yahoo

Scripps Howard News Service

Loutallica

2011-11-07T04:19:00.000-08:00

This is an illustration I did for an Italian music and pop culture magazine called XL. The idea was to do something of a 'superhero' take on the musicians. While it started out as an interior illo to accompany an article, the editors liked it enough to make it the cover. Big challenge, this piece, and lots of lessons learned.

Lesson 1: Likenesses are a bitch.

Lesson 2: Black and white with spot color almost always works

Lesson 3: Kirk Hammett looks a bit too much like Chris Cornell. Then again, is that a bad thing?

Speaking of things metal, I'm sure many of you have already heard of The Sword, but if not I highly recommend you check them out. Old School metal done well, complete with song titles that make firey dragons on green planets screech in the night. Gather you broadsword and take flight. ;)

TODAY

2011-11-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

....is the day. The book is out. All sorts of interviews popping up across the web. Feels like giving birth (somewhat painful but joyous as well). I'll be happy when the kid has a few months on him and is sleeping through the night.

UPDATE: This is a really nice review over at Aint it Cool News!!!

This and That

2011-10-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

Variant cover for 'la Marvel'. Also, for anyone interested in my blabbering, here is a nice interview over at Newsarama by Vaneta Rogers. They have a new Noel page in black and white as well. Might give folks a bit better of an idea what the book is about.

Not sure if there are any Jeff Buckley fans out there, but literally can't stop listening to his duo with Elizabeth Frazer (God made the world in seven days... and then made the Cocteau Twins ;) ) "All Flowers in Time Bend Toward the Sun". Might be one of the most beautiful, haunting things I've ever heard. Buckley was a genius. R.I.P.

More music stuff coming this week.

Page 19

2011-10-21T04:09:00.000-07:00

Hopefully by now people have seen the Noel preview. Here's a page in black and white. I'll be doing this quite a bit after the book is released, but we'll start slow. Every page was done fairly traditionally: pencil, ink, and more pencil. Some wash over areas to push certain values a bit darker and some sepia and red colored pencil for skin tones. An important change I wanted to make in the style of this project was to push the cartooning a bit more. Will Eisner was a huge influence, as was the insurmountable Norman Rockwell. I find that a bit of exaggeration here and there adds an element of playfulness that fully rendered, stark realism just can't provide. Rockwell was the master of that.

Fear Itself

2011-10-05T04:26:00.000-07:00

Variant cover. You all know the drill...

Wetness is hard to draw.

NYC

2011-10-03T04:08:00.000-07:00

Cue Interpol song. Going to be back in the States attending the New York Comicon next week and it seems there'll be a special little Batman: Noel goody for those attending. New York Comicon magazine will be featuring a five page preview of the book, which is pretty damn nifty. For those attending, I'll be camped out most of the show at the Splashpage Art booth as well as doing a Batman panel Friday as well as signing at the DC booth on Saturday. Looking forward to drinking lots of coffee and seeing friends and family.

In book news, I've just seen an actual copy and am REALLY pleased with the way the thing printed. Pretty classy looking packaging as well so hopefully people will dig it when it comes out in a month. I'm going to be filling this blog with black and white pages after the thing is released, as well as some other covers and illustrations I've been working on for the past few months. If this blog is a crime scene (sometimes it feels that way), get ready for an orgy of evidence... To keep you tied over 'till then, the DC blog has unveiled a few pages to wet the appetite.

Surgeon General's Warning

2011-09-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

New stuff coming soon..... LOTS of it. Until then, I came across this Hellblazer cover the other day and realized that it's one of my favorites. While I'm trying to move away from the 'fo-painterly' look in my more recent color pieces, I think that this piece succeeds in more ways than it fails. The only thing I think it's missing is more of a graphic quality, but that's probably just because my tastes are going more in that direction now. I've fallen back in love with holding lines, and like the idea of embracing more of the fact that these things are drawings, despite being in color. Still, I love John Constantine and miss the smug bastard sometimes....

Long time comin'...

2011-07-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

Since the book has been solicited at long last, I wanted to share the final wrap around cover with folks. Just a few months left before it's release in November and things are very much taking shape. The lettered pages look fantastic thanks to the amazing Todd Klein and I really can't praise highly enough what Barbara Ciardo is doing with the coloring. Over the course of the next couple months I hope to be able to start sharing some pages here and there as well.

Words to live and die by.....

2011-04-20T01:43:00.000-07:00

"Let this be plain to all: drawing constitutes the fountainhead and substace of painting and sculpture and architecture.... and is the root of all sciences. He who has attained possession of drawing possesses a great treasure."

-Michelangelo-

Quick Fix?

2011-03-30T04:27:00.001-07:00

Would love to be able to do this for real.

Having one of those days....

Bag no longer contains cat......

2011-02-15T02:44:00.000-08:00

DC announced my upcoming project, Batman: Noel, on their blog last week. Suffice it to say that I'm relieved I can finally talk about it here without having to use silly insinuations and not so clever wordplay. Check out the link above to read DC's press release including a very kind quote from my editor, the incredible Mark Chiarello.

The project will be released later this year, towards the holidays and is written and draw by yours truly with amazing color work by Barbara Ciardo. If you've seen the work she did over me in Wednesday Comics, this book takes things even further. Couldn't be happier with the colors...

While I still can't show anything substantial, I was given the go ahead to post a tiny little piece of a page for you guys to see. Hopefully it will give people a good idea of the look of the book. Better yet, head over to Barbara Ciardo's blog to see it in color!! Can't say much more, but rest assured you'll be hearing more about this in the coming months. Excited, excited..

Marvel 5

2010-12-08T02:26:00.000-08:00

Last piece in the poster and my favorite. Wolverine. Drawing that character felt like a perfectly natural fit. Hell, wouldn't mind doing it again on the regular. Wolverine covers anybody?

Marvel 4

2010-12-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

X-Men. Wish I could have done Ice-Man or Havoc but there were certain characters who wouldn't appear in the issue with the variant so it came down to choosing from a limited roster. Cyclops was fun. Not much else to say.

Marvel 3

2010-12-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

The Fantastic Four. I'm a pretty big fan of Jack Kirby's original interpretation of The Thing in the first issue of the book. He was less refined, more monstrous and sad, yet at the same time more likeable. There was something very blue collar to that Thing that visually you don't seem to get with more modern versions. I picture the Thing being the type of guy to throw on his hat and trench coat and go grab a beer after work. He doesn't need to be anatomically muscular to seem hard and tough. My Mr. Fantastic was modelled after Francesco Meo, my good friend and former roommate. Sue Storm was based on my wife's best friend Stefania.

Marvel 2

2010-12-01T00:41:00.000-08:00

Second piece of the Marvel poster. This one was probably the most fun the draw, seeing as I loved getting into the Hulk's anatomy. Unfortunately, my rendition of Daredevil here just isn't quite up to snuff. This was before I tackled the DD covers and didn't really feel like I had a good enough vision for him. I almost ALWAYS go back to the original incarnations of the characters and read some of the first few issues before doing a new character. In this case, I skipped over DD and went straight for the Hulk and my favoritism shows. Couldn't help it. I'll pick monsters over costumed guys every time.

Marvel 1

2010-11-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

Some people still may not have seen this as it was never published in the states. Panini Comics commissioned me to do a huge, interconnecting cover for the Lucca convention a few years ago. Originally it was intended to be a series of alternate covers for 5 of their Marvel books. It was the first time I ever tackled the Marvel characters and I was thrilled to be able to do it in such a huge fashion. As it turned out, they printed the entire image as one big gatefold cover, sans the Spider-man section.

I'm going to post the whole poster over the course of the week and talk a bit about each one, but definitely wanted to start with the Spider-Man image. Out of all the characters I knew had to be featured, Spidey was the one I dreaded the most. All that webbing on the costume, the weird poses, etc.... How could I make it believable?!? You know you have problems when you're thinking how you can make a dude who got bit by a radioactive spider and gifted with super-powers 'believable'.

In the end, it wasn't my favorite piece but I definitely feel like I cracked how to make the character fun for me to draw. I think I've said this here before, but I'm really a firm believer that the costume should look hand made and NOT cool. I like the idea that the webbing looks sloppy and asymmetrical. I mean, essentially Peter Parker was a bit of a cosplayer. ,) I remember thinking to myself as a kid, 'How come you can't see where his mask attaches to the shirt?'. The solution: you can.

More to come....

Cruisin' for a bruisin'

2010-11-27T06:46:00.000-08:00

Eat Turkey. Draw tough guys.

Luthor

2010-10-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Over at The Source, DC has unveiled the cover for the new Luthor hardcover as well as a couple new story pages. They asked me to write a little something up, so I tried to provide a bit of information in regards to the new and improved, 'director's cut' of Brian Azzarello's and my 2005 mini series LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL. This was such a treat to get to do. For reasons I wont go into here, that mini always felt unfinished and the fact that the powers that be over at DC have allowed us to tinker with the book as much as we have is really unprecedented.

The book should be out this month. SO nice to finally see it in hardcover form after five years. Wow..... has it really been five years?!?!

Wildstorm

2010-09-22T01:53:00.000-07:00

The only thing I could think of when posting this was, 'It's such a fucking shame I have nothing newer to show with these characters'. Had to DIG just to find this, and it's a shitty old jpeg.

Wildstorm, as I knew it, has been no more for some time now. That said, when the news hit yesterday that it was official, it still greatly saddened me. I grew up there, literally. From 18 years of age until I was 25, that place was my home and the people that worked there, like a second family. So much of who I am and what I do today is wrapped up in those halls. Without getting into maudlin territory, here, I feel like this is the end of a dream I had as a fifteen year old boy. Wildstorm studios, then Homage studios, seemed like the absolute pinnacle of what was going on in comics at the moment back in 92/93, and I desperately wanted to be a part of it. Most of this was thanks to the work that the younger artists were doing there at the time. Aron Weisenfeld, Mike Lopez, and Whilce Portacio were people who were inspiring me greatly and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to work alongside these folks. It seemed like the kind of place that allowed a young artist to grow and experiment, while learning from the best of the best.

It was true and I got my wish...

...well mostly. By the time I made it into the studio in July of 1997, all of those guys where gone. I was the last official intern (as part of the original internship program that spawned other amazing artists like Carlos, D'Anda, J.J. Kirby, Ale Garza, etc.) and things at the studio had already changed dramatically. With the heyday of Image Comics fading into the rear view mirror, the studio had already gone through a major re-structure and I was brought in to do consumer products artwork. Two years later(?) DC bought Wildstorm, and things changed again. I was lucky as hell to have stayed on, and all the sudden it was like the little fishes in the small pond got dumped into the ocean. Super fun, full of cool opportunities, but super stressful as well. The truth of it was, me growing up a DC kid, I REALLY looked forward to playing with some of those major DC characters. Although I LOVED the Wildstorm characters as well, the kid in me wanted badly to draw some Batman. The place evolved even more as the numbers in the offices dwindled and the studio got more sucked into the DC machine.

When I left in 2003, if felt like time. Wildstorm was, for all intents and purposes, my college experience and I was eager to get out on my own. Almost every year around con time, I make it back to La Jolla to hang out with friends so I've been able to see a bit how the studio has morphed even more. It's such a fascinating organism that place, always finding a way to survive and mutate into something that functions. The one thing that never changed, though is that feeling. When you walk in you feel an energy that I've never found in any other studio.

All in all, I got to play around a bit in the Wildstorm pool, and consider myself lucky to have done so. Looking at everything now with a bit of perspective, the thing that resonates with Wildstorm is that it, like it's characters, was VERY much a product of it's time. Although tastes change as well as people, I found myself digging up some of those old books and thinking, 'Damn, the possibilities..' It brought back tons of memories of people and dreams long gone. Sitting in the intern apartment with J.J, Carlos, and Armando looking at Mike Lopez photocopies, going to Jim's Spawn movie premier party and winding up with whip cream all over my clothes (a story for another time), barfing all over the hallway going into Jim's New York apartment, the best store signing ever in Orlando with Jim, Ale, Carlos, Sandra H, sitting with Carlos and Ale arguing 'cartoony or realistic'.... the list goes on and on.

Best Wildstorm memory isn't one event in particular. It was every time I sat down to draw, music blasting, looking out at the ocean and very questionable hotel guests, and loving the idea that I was drawing comics with some cool motherfuckers.

The book

2010-09-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted this considering it's been out there circulating for a while. Originally done as a piece for the Splashpage sketchbook, this wound up being a very inspirational piece for the graphic novel I'm working on in terms of tone. I think I turned it in along with the script as part of the overall pitch. As such, it's a pretty close representation of what the book looks like. I look at this sucker as a very 'excited' piece... completely lacking in the editing phase but full of the pure joy of putting pencil to paper. As much as I enjoy being critical, I hope to never get so analytical with the work that I lose sight of what made drawing fun for me in the first place: the feeling of lead smearing grey on white and watching something emerge from nothing.

Getting back to the book, I've started to see some pretty great color pages trickle in by the uber-talented Barbara Ciardo. It's like being a kid on Christmas..... ahem, ahem.

Joker & Lex

2010-08-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

This came out yesterday so I can finally post the black and white art for this incredibly fun little short Azzarello and I did. Wish I could take credit for the idea, but that's all Brian. Who can say no when someone calls you up and asks you do do Joker and Lex Luthor in the style of Calvin and Hobbes?!? Gotta say, kudos to the folks at DC for letting us do this and do it right. It's not something people expect from Brian and I, and you have to give credit to the editors who looked at these pages when they came in and didn't immediately think something was rotten in Denmark. So here's a special thank you to Eddie Berganza, Rex Ogle, and Jim Lee for getting our backs with this.

The best thing about doing something like this is the opportunity to pull out the brush and just let it talk for you. No need to clutter things up with rendering or ink wash. Trish Mulvihill did a fantastic job of keeping this simple in color as well. I think the thing this strip does best is showcase Brian's sense of humor and ability to say a lot with very little. Thought about posting the lettered version here, but then my evil, capitalistic instincts kicked in and I realized people should go out and buy the damn thing to get the full effect ,)

Mother, Country, and Apple Pie

2010-08-25T03:39:00.000-07:00

Finally something new I can post. Mr. Alex Segura over at the DCU blog posted this yesterday along with some other new covers. Tried something new in my process for this piece. Really trying to introduce some softness into my work. Looking back on some older pieces, the harshness and angularity is a bit overwhelming. Although I'm wary of pushing too far in the other direction, I'd like to find a happy medium. Hards and softs that work together in unity without losing a sense of style.

In other news, got something fun to show everyone as soon as Superan/Batman #75 ships.

SDCC: The Name of the BEAST

2010-06-23T01:24:00.000-07:00

These suckers are all convention commissions from years past done on the spot during the San Diego convention. My attitude towards commissions has always been that I want to give people the best drawing possible given the limited time frame. This means that they take a while to complete, therefore I usually take no more than five or six a show. Since I've almost always taken the list on Preview night, those unfortunate souls who get to the show on Thursday or Friday find the list full before they even step foot inside the convention hall.

This year I'm taking a different approach to my San Diego Convention commissions. To try and squeeze a few more drawings in than usual, my art dealer extraordinaire Mark Hay over at Spashpageart.com is taking a list before the show for first time via his website. If you're attending the marvelous monster that is SDCC and want a drawing, click on the link below to splash page art and check out the rules of the game.

splashpageart.com

While you're there, take the time to thumb through the AMAZING art he has for sale. He reps some of the best guys in the business, and you can find some fantastic originals by the likes of Tim Bradstreet, Edvin Biukovic, Cliff Chiang, and many more. That's right, I said Edvin Biukovic......

After Liberatore...

2010-06-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

Love me....

2010-06-17T11:04:00.001-07:00

The Devil

2010-05-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Finally found these pages while in a folder of old random work. Thought I had lost them. It had been a while since I'd seen these in black and white. I absolutely LOVE drawing Daredevil and can say with certainty I'm no where near done with this character. Would love to do some more DD interior work, since these three pages only scratched the surface of my interest. In fact, I'd LOVE to take Daredevil back to more of the feeling it had in it's first 20 issues or so. As much as everybody enjoys brooding, dark Matt Murdock, I'd like to take a left turn and take the character back to his more adventurous and cavalier roots. Matt Hollingsworth did a stellar job with these pages in color. I was thrilled to be working with the guy that colored Grendel: Devils and Deaths, probably one of my top three favorite books of all time. Anyone who hasn't read it should find it immediately.

Legion

2010-05-11T01:25:00.000-07:00

The assignment was to do a cover based directly on this Keith Giffen Legion image from the 1980's. Perks: No layouts required, the basic color scheme is already worked out, and the final goal is much clearer than it usually is. The thing I enjoy about doing homages to other pieces is the fact that, even with all this homework done beforehand, the final piece still requires you to find some solutions to make the image work for you. My ultimate goal became giving my cover a psychadelic feel, something that felt more in tune with what the Legion seemed like to me at that time. Put that tablet on your tongue and to relax....

I can't discuss this cover without talking about Jack Kirby. The Darkseid character is an amazing design and I LOVED the big orange sun in the background and all the Kirby-crackle. I did a number of passes on this in the drawing phase just to get Darkseid's face close to looking like Jack's stuff.... or at least as close as my capabilities would allow. In the end, hopefully my version is still recognizable as a homage to the Giffen cover, but different enough to be somewhat fresh.

Off topic: R.I.P. Frank Frazetta. King of Kings.

Emerald Warriors

2010-05-08T02:36:00.000-07:00

Green... and lots of it. My most feared color... the one I avoid like the plague. For this variant cover I was pretty much forced to deal with green and knock it around like a red-headed stepchild. See, normally, green is the bully, at least that's how I view the color. It tends to push me around in the piece, and force me into color schemes I don't really naturally gravitate towards. It tells you to add more yellow, a bit of purple, and makes throwing red in there a bitch and a half. Due to the fact that red and green are compliments, the combination of the two tends to produce and image where both colors fight each other for attention unless the piece is extremely simple. In this particular case, I started out with much more red in the sky and had to continually mix more purple into to get that green to jump forward. Anyway, enough boring color talk.

It's this simple: I had never done a Green Lantern piece before. I've done a couple of covers for DC lately where I branched out a bit in terms of the characters and tried some new things color-wise. To be honest, I never read Green Lantern as a kid, so a lot of wikepedia was involved here. Guy Gardner I was already familiar with, but from waaay back in the Justice League days. Funny, a LOT can change in continuity in twenty years ,) Look for this cover as the variant to Emerald Warriors #1.

Thor

2010-05-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

Just saw the image of Thor from the upcoming film and thought I would post this. I really enjoy what Olivier Coipel did with the book, especially his rendition of Thor's physicality. He just looked thick, powerful, and rugged... a nice change from many of the pretty boy renditions in the past. The long blonde hair makes it REALLY easy to drift off into romance novel cover territory, and Thor can be a particularly brutal character because of those big wings on his helmet. How in the hell do you make that combination look cool?!?!?! Solution: stick to Olivier's approach as closely as possible. It's really one of the first times I've purposely set out to emulate the look of another artist for a particular character instead of trying to find my own approach. Of course, my stylistic tendencies are still evident and the homage to Coipel is probably not all that noticeable, but every time I look at this piece I think of how it pales in comparison to Olivier's stunning work. The moral of the story is that you have to stick to your guns and do what works for you.

Darkness

2010-04-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

I know, I know.... ANOTHER old piece. Promise I'll start posting some new stuff as soon as it gets solicited. This Darkness wrap around cover was done a couple years back, and definitely presented a challenge for me. Whenever I approach a new character, I try to figure out a way for the dude to make sense to me. If I can find an angle, a way IN, the piece usually turns out more successfully. Sometimes, that angle never seems to manifest. In hindsight, I probably could have found a way to do the armored version of the character but I kept hitting a wall conceptually. See, The Darkness looks amazing when Marc Silvestri draws him. In all my preliminary sketches, the 'superhero' version just came off looking messy instead of badass. I couldn't figure out how to insert some of Marc's magic into what I do. In the end, I opted to play off the juxtaposition of having a guy in a suit next to all these weird little creatures.

Some of the old Image stuff has been on my mind lately. Part of me really wishes that there had been a way to transition a lot of that stuff into the modern marketplace. I still have a soft spot in my heart for some of those characters, and got a kick at digging up some of my old books and seeing what was hitting my switches as I began my career. Honestly, there are some GREAT concepts there (admittedly some truly AWFUL ones as well) and I think the Darkness is one of them. The fact that Jackie is a mobster is just such a fun twist to the concept. I also love the fact that the book had such a sick sense of humor. Garth Ennis is the MAN!

tats

2010-03-16T01:57:00.000-07:00

Came across this going through old files and found myself looking at it more carefully than some of the other cover images in the same folder. I think that the idea of drawing characters with tattoos is always more interesting that actually 'doing' it. The problem is getting the buggers to look like they're underneath the skin. At the time, I wrestled with adding another tattoo on her forearm but decided against it to keep the focus down around her torso. Gotta give it up to the fantastic Mauro Corradini once again for logo placement. This was the first cover that my editor allowed the the possibility to play with graphic design a bit, and without it I don't think the piece would have worked as well. Still wish we had been able to warp the bottom left hand corner of the logo a bit more....

The things you do for girls....

2010-03-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

Personal interlude here. Light some candles, listen to the sound of the violins, use the cheesy smile...

I did this piece a few years ago for my wife. Her favorite character is the Silver Surfer and she actually has a pretty awesome little collection of art based on the character. See, it goes like this: If you're a girl, it's ten times easier to get artists to give you cool pieces. Somewhere deep inside us still lurks that insecure little high school kid who never got the girl and is thrilled at any little ounce of female attention thrown our way. I've seen many an artist in action at conventions and it never ceases to amaze me how it's the same pretty much across the boards. Sad really, but I guess it's the way of the world. Case in point, I did this piece back when we had just begun dating thinking it would win me points. As for the big floating space fish, Sara loves to scuba dive. The ocean fascinates her and it's difficult to find her happier than when we're sitting on a beach somewhere.

At any rate, she was looking at some of the other Surfer pieces yesterday and it made me realize I'd never actually made a scan of mine. Don't know if it will be of interest to anyone else, but at least it's something new to post while I'm waiting to show off newer work. Now blow out those candles and give each other a big sloppy kiss.

buuuurrrppppp!!!!!

Savage

2010-02-18T02:56:00.000-08:00

First Wave variant cover here. I'm pretty intrigued by what Brian told me about this series. It seems like an interesting approach to all the various characters they're using, and of course the fact that it features Doc Savage is just perfection.

I was first introduced to the character via the brilliant James Bama covers. To say they made an impression on me would be a HUGE understatement. There are few illustrators who have influenced me as much as Bama. I look at his work and his characters seem alive. I think the fact that he had a way of 'weathering' his figures made them feel more human to me. Typically, when trying to reinforce the fact that a character is iconic and powerful, an artist is pressured into idealizing almost every facet of said characters physicality. For example, wrinkles on clothes and costumes tend to read as 'messy' or 'imperfect' if done badly, therefore they are generally to be avoided if you wanna play by the rulebook. I remember a certain artistic 'superstar' explaining to me that too many details and particulars in skin and costuming made the character come off as goofy instead of cool. I couldn't disagree more. Of course this all comes down to personal taste, but I've always felt that those details somehow help me believe in the character more. Bama had a way of making Doc Savage look like he had really been through the shit, powerful and experienced all at the same time. His torn shirt looked like it had really been ripped apart by something, not just featuring carefully placed 'artistic' damage meant to make drawing the character easier or more formulaic. More importantly, it really looked like Bama's Savage had an internal life as well.. something going on underneath the surface. All those surface details actually contributed to his power and believability as opposed to limiting it.

Looking at the cover now, my pitiful attempt to do the character justice just reminds me how good Jim Bama is. For the coloring on this piece, I tried something different than on almost all other covers by doing the entire piece in Photoshop. Normally, I do most of my work in Painter, only really utilizing photoshop for effects and flatting. I wanted the piece to have a slight grain to it. Since the line is 'pulpy' I didn't want the image coming off as too slick.

Human Targè

2010-02-11T04:25:00.000-08:00

Looks like this cover was released to the general public, which means I FINALLY have something new to post. I really dig the character, and I also enjoyed the hell out of the covers Tim Bradstreet did for the Vertigo Human Target series. In fact, I like them so much I had a hard time not picturing them while trying to come up with layouts. Bradstreet is a tough act to follow. Honeslty, though, the biggest challenge of doing this cover was literally not knowing what the main character was going to look like. There was no visual information for me to go on other than some stuff I had seen online about the new HT TV series (and no one was even sure if that would be the model to follow). Since I started out in this business doing licenced product work, I know that sometimes these things just need to get done, regardless of how little information you have. Sometimes, it even makes the project more fun. This was the case on Human Target.

Personally, I love not being beholden to an exact model or visual. I enjoy an assignment more when I get some basic parameters and am allowed the space to do my thing. The only art direction was to go a bit 007 with it and that was all the info I needed. BIG props to my brothers over at Wildstorm for pushing through my idea to place the tag line over the figure as a graphic design element. We decided it would be best to do it digitally, though, and leave the art untouched just in case. It all seemed to work out in the end, which makes me a happy camper. Looking forward to seeing the show.

clowns still scare me

2010-01-09T02:37:00.000-08:00

Been so long since I've posted I almost forgot my password to login. The big 'L' is planted firmly on my forehead, I might as well just tattoo it there. Still not much new to post until a few things hit the stands. Got a DMZ piece to show in a few weeks as well as another cover featuring one of my favorite pulp characters. Graphic novel is coming along, slowly (understatement) but surely. It's by far the most 'complete' piece of work I've done.. not sure if that will a good thing or a bad thing. Oh and here is a pic of the amazing Mark Chiarello holding the Wednesday Comics hardcover!!!!

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2010/01/mark1.jpg

The Carnevale poster was something I did a couple months ago for my father in law, who works in conjunction with the committee that runs Carnevale in the little town my wife was born in, Castelnovo Sotto. The Graphic design was done by Mauro Corradini, who also provided the desing work on the covers to Hellblazer 244-246. The guy is a fantastic local graphic designer and friend. These posters will be plastered all around the cities in the area this month, which will be bizarre to say the least. It's so colorful it almost hurts my eyes, but then again it's Carnevale...whattayagonnado.

Neglect breeds boredom....

2009-12-07T01:18:00.000-08:00

... or is it the other way around? So more than a month now without a post. Couple reasons for that, but mainly the fact that I can't show anything I'm working on just yet. I wanted to post some of the Wednesday Comics sketches and pages in various stages of completion, but it looks like most of that stuff is going to show up in the hardcover collection. Got a couple things to put up this week, though, old and new.

I did this variant cover for Daredevil a year or so ago. Not sure if people have seen it so this seems like a good time and place to put it up. Had a good time doing this. The owls were an unexpected surprise. I went into it thinking they were going to be a pain in the ass but it was fun rendering all those feathers and playing around with them in the context of the overall composition. My only complaint here is the shadow of DD cast on the wall. I think I could've found a way to work it in better, or at least more clearly.

Another commission...

2009-10-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Yup. Spider-man versus Wolverine. Who would win? (sarcasm button pushed and held firmly before burying his head in the ground sheepishly)

Legacy...

2009-10-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

Don't know if these have shown up anywhere in black and white. Whenever I do these connecting pieces (and I've done quite a few of them now), I generally try to use some sort of unifying theme to try and have everything make sense. This cover was REALLY challenging in that regard. I chose to try and use Professor X's psychic blast as a means of showing little 'shifts' in time. The only real way to illustrate this without cluttering everything up EVEN MORE was to show these shifts via changes in the characters costume. While it seemed like a great idea at the time, after getting into the piece I realized that this only really hits home in color. For example, Wolverine and Magneto's costumes have changed a number of times but based on the time periods we chose to use, the little differences in fashion became pretty damn subtle at times. Gambit presented a real problem too, since I needed to give him the trench coat but couldn't remove it in the 'strips' that shifted into more of his present garb. Is this explanation just as confusing as the cover itself?

Best bits: Mohawk Storm and Professor X

Worst bits: Whatever that Robot character is called, Magneto, and Mystique.

Mantova Manifesto

2009-10-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

I did this poster a couple years ago for Mantova Comics and Games, a convention in Northern Italy organized by my wife, Sara, and a couple other friends. It's been fantastic to watch the show grow and evolve over the past few years and Mantova really is a fantastic little city. Every year, they try to get a new artist to draw the poster, the first was done by Gabriele Dell'Otto and the third by Simone Bianchi. Looking forward to seeing who does this years.

Another Joker illustration....

2009-10-10T03:26:00.000-07:00

This piece was done last year for the Dark Knight IMAX premiere at the Palms in Las Vegas. It was a cool night, and the theater, in conjunction with Derrick from Comic Oasis, printed a number of these things to give away to people with tickets to see the flick. A limited number where actually printed up large scale onto canvas as well. Comic Oasis is a fantastic store, and anyone in Vegas with some time should stop by and check it out.

Color?!?!?!?!?!

2009-10-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

What the hell is that?!?! Yeah, I noticed that this blog lacks some color in a major way. To remedy the situation, I decided to start tossing out some covers I've done in color. Why not start with my favorite. Gotta say, I really like this cover, which, if you know me, is a strange thing. Sometimes the stars align and things just seem to work out. This cover was one of those occasions. The truly sad thing is that I have yet to do a color piece that I like as much. The truth behind this particular image, though, is that it isn't the technical aspects of the piece that get me going. I like the subject matter here, and I hold this cover directly responsible for getting me interested in drawing things in smoke. This cover also holds a warm, fuzzy place in my heart because I used a good friend and former room mate Francesco Meo as my Constantine model. Francesco looks NOTHING like John C. but damn does he know how to smoke a cigarette. If I can dig up the black and white version I'll post it as well. I'm sure it's out there online somewhere....

At any rate, this piece was colored in Painter. I've just recently started to get brave enough with photoshop to venture into the world of 'layers' and 'command z'. For some reason it never occurred to me to do things on layers. Yet another Forrest Gump example of Lee getting a hold of technology and finding the slowest, most ineffectual way to use it. I would basically just scan the black and whites in and paint directly on top of the piece. If I screwed something up, I would just paint over it. DOH!!!!!

Page 12

2009-09-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

Last page of Wednesday Comics in pencil. Fun to finally get to draw Perry White and Jimmy. Working full steam on the new graphic novel. Still can't talk to much about it (trust me, I'd like to) but maybe I can sneak in a small peak or two in the coming months.

Joke's on you...

2009-09-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

This piece is the perfect example of why I don't take commissions outside of conventions. I started this sucker about two years ago for painter Gabriele Dell'Otto. We traded Joker pieces, but he had a special request that I add Batman. In the time he waited for this, he and his wife had one child, conceived and gave birth to another, and probably lost their minds wondering why I hadn't finished this damn piece. In any case, I FINALLY got it done and a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Ahhhhhh... the precious guilt. Anyone who is familiar with Gab's work should know that you can't just give an artist like that something ordinary. I've seen that bastard do some absolutely gorgeous color commissions at conventions over the years. Maybe I should add a flat red background... make a print of this or something.

Page 11

2009-09-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the delay in new posts. Took a trip down to Tuscany with Carlos D'Anda and his lovely lady, Cindy. Anyone unfamiliar with Carlos' work should go out and buy the new Batman-Arkham Asylum game. Carlos is responsible for most of the character design work and the whole thing looks INCREDIBLE!!!!! At any rate, the guy is a monster and his work continues to impress, as does his ability to create interesting characters like The Terrible Tea-bagger. Citizens of small Tuscan towns beware!

Getting back to Wednesday Comics, we have officially reached the end of the experiment. The last issue hits the stands today as does the last installment of the Superman story on USAToday.com. Gotta say I will miss seeing a new issue every week. Kudos once again go out to Mark Chiarello for setting this whole thing up!!! Hope they do it again next year with totally new creative teams. Now that the precedent has been set, it's time for some new blood to come in and really explore the format. For now, here is the pencils for page 11. Since I've had some questions about what materials I use and my technique, this might be a good time to break it down. It's fairly simple: I draw with a drafting pencil, generally using an F lead or occassionally a B lead. Most of the line work is done with Microns and the washes are done using watered down Windsor & Newton inks. It should be noted that I do most of my value work in the pencil stage, coming back in with washes mainly to pump up the contrast a bit. I draw everything I do on the back of the standard DC illustration boards. I just like the surface better.

Notice the excessive ass shots of Superman here... that's for the nipple nazis. See, I'm an equal opportunity kinda guy.....

Page 10

2009-09-15T06:25:00.001-07:00

OK, now let's talk about this nipple issue. Yes, I gave Supergirl nipples. Oddly enough, sometimes nipples show through when someone is wearing a skin tight costume. Does it sexualize her? I guess it all depends on the individuals reaction to it and their own personal issues. I read somewhere that it ruined the effect of this page for someone. I really must say the idea that something as simple and beautiful as the shape of a woman's nipple somehow damaged the effect of the storytelling saddens me as an artist and a human being. Haven't we gotten past this, or is it just the armpit of the American gene pool that find something like that offensive?!?! Are they gasping and pointing every time they see a woman in a tight shirt?!? Oddly enough, those same kind of comments weren't made when I draw Superman more 'realistically' in the underwear area.

Even more amazing to me is that the comments come from people who love and religiouly follow a medium that glamorizes and exxagerates the human body every chance it gets. I have immense respect for the human figure, both male and female, and as such, my characters have nipples, crotches, and hopefully everything in between.

All that said, what a blast to draw all those little characters and moments in Superman's life. In hindsight, I wish I had more room to go off here. How cool would it have been to have an entire page of that stuff?

Wednesday Comics Page 9

2009-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

Haven't been keeping up with posting these pages in black and white. That said, hopefully there will be some cool stuff to show off (new) in a week or so. This particular page was pretty fun given that the layout could get a bit more experimental. I also REALLY wanted to get a big portrait of Superman on one of these pages, so number 9 provided me with the occasion. I love looking at all the other guys work in Wednesday Comics to see how people are using the space.

W.I.P.

2009-09-08T01:07:00.000-07:00

Just some fun sketching around in photoshop. Molly likes to play with dead things. About half a days work here. I'll try to finish this up in between things, but am at a loss as to where to go with it. Falling back in love with early nineties alternative. Jawbox, Drop Nineteens, Soundgarden, and Jawbreaker on the stereo. What am I, fifteen again?!?!?!?!

Another Wednesday...

2009-09-02T07:14:00.001-07:00

Another page of Superman and another issue of Wednesday Comics. Here is last weeks page in black and white. This page is a perfect example of how a colorist can actually be a storyteller as well. I wanted Barbara to really go all out here, adding as some clouds, sky, and smoke trails to help make readers feel like they were up there with Superman. Not only did it need to look cool visually, but I also felt like it was necessary for storytelling purposes. She really exceeded my expectations here and turned in one of my favorite pages of the series.

One of the things I wanted to do with this story was take advantage of the larger page sizes to switch up rhythm from time to time. Since John's script called for the first few pages of the story to be a bit more internal and low key, I wanted the page layouts to reflect this. Once the story kicks into high gear, the layouts change and start veering away from the more traditional strip format. The past three pages have seen things get a bit more free form, and this page in particular seemed to be a good opportunity to start giving you some bigger, more dynamic imagery. I've read some comments about how quickly the page reads, which I took as a compliment. Action shouldn't read slow, right? When you're writing a song, not every bar has the same notes at the same tempo.....

Check out this weeks page over at USA Today to see another example of how the layouts continue to get more experimental as things heat up.

This time it's personal....

2009-08-31T01:02:00.001-07:00

A piece I did for myself. This one has had a funny effect on me. It began as just a way to draw subject matter that interested me. A world where I controlled every visual element. Awfully masturbatory but I think it served it's purpose and then some. Hopefully it will turn into something down the road. I've got a story for it that seems pretty decent. It's a slow burn, the writing process, though. Having wrote the script for the graphic novel I'm currently working on, I can say that it only get's harder. The first one seems like puppy love. It's innocent and awkward, easier than you thought....but only because it ain't meant to be the love of your life. The second one has been all sloppy, hands where they shouldn't be and overly moist. Learning.

In all seriousness, I really like the idea of doing more personal work in the future. I feel like the first ten years of my career have been about learning to ride the bike. Hopefully the next few will be about traveling.

Back on track...

2009-08-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

We're really getting into it now with Wednesday Comics. The series is past the mid mark now, and I'm pretty excited for people to see the coming week's strips. Gotta get back up to date here with the black and white pages, so here are pages 6 and 7. After the last strip is released, I plan on showing some of my preliminary work for the story as well, kind of a behind the scenes look at some of the pages in their early stages.

More goofiness...

2009-08-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

My take on Captain America and the Red Skull for a variant cover. Not much to say here except this: Drawing chain mail is a pain in my ass! I found this cool Versace dress that was made out of little metal disks and thought, 'Perfect!'. It had that regal look and was interesting at the same time because the pieces in the 'armor' were all of varying sizes. It seemed like the perfect solution to my chain mail dilemma, until I actually had to sit down and draw it. In the end, I think it looks a little messier than I'd like. I finally get why people draw all the little disks the same size. Story of my life. See, I have to walk backwards into knowledge for some reason. I will find a way to Forrest Gump my way through almost anything.... Still, what a cool assignment. PLUS, kudos to Marvel for being so cool about letting me draw Cap the way I wanted.

Favorite bit: Red Skull's right eye.

Least favorite bit: It's pretty much a tie between the chain mail and Red Skull's glove.

Unpublished

2009-08-15T02:56:00.000-07:00

... for good reason. Another oldie. This one was done for Marvel a few years back and never used. I think it probably has something to do with the weird interpretation of both characters. I wanted Wolverine to be really small, more like the height Byrne always seemed to give him where he really was a runt. As for Spidey, I just really love the fact that his costume is supposed to be home-made. I always thought it would look much goofier than a lot of artists draw it. More random, uneven webbing and a non-perfect fit. Personally, I think it makes the stuff he does even cooler. Just imagine the bad guys reaction to seeing a guy who looks like he just walked out of a cosplay convention. Basically, you would laugh your ass of at the guy, then he would jump fifteen feet in the air, do some crazy acrobatics, move his limbs in a completely inhuman way, and cover you with webbing. Scary :)

All in all, I consider this piece to be an earnest failure as far as 'cover image' goes. Still, it's nice to play around with character's I don't often draw. There's still a 12 year old in me that would love to do a Spider-man story... the problem is that I'm not sure there would be an audience for it. It would be a far cry from Toby Maguire. PLUS, having to draw all that webbing..... yeah, I dunno.

Page 5

2009-08-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

...in black and white, complete with chubby Super-baby. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself at the fact that I got to do my version of Superman's origin. It was definitely a blast. I've heard the criticism that almost everybody knows Superman's origin so why does anybody need to see it again. Funny thing is, I've found, though, is that some people outside the world of comics still aren't quite sure. Contrary to popular belief, not everybody out there has seen the first Superman movie, and even more, other people I've spoken too get his origin confused with those of other super heroes. Sometimes even I forget that a large percentage of people aren't into this stuff ,).

All this aside, it was fun just trying to re-visualize the world and people of Krypton. It brings up interesting questions about Supe's costume. Is it supposed to be Kryptonian, or did Ma Kent stitch it up for him? I've seen both explanations, and I like to side with the supposition that it's Kryptonian clothing, hence all the other Kryptonians walking around in what essentially look like superhero costumes. Barbara really did a bang up job coloring this one. She brought that last panel to life.... If any of you were bothered by the printing, be sure to check out the file on the USA Today page.

That's SO old....

2009-08-07T10:28:00.001-07:00

OK, maybe not that old but this sucker has a couple years on it at least. Did this for my pal Ale Garza. He and super talented, writer extraordinaire Allen Warner created a book called Skyrunner for Wildstorm and I was tapped to do a variant cover.. probably more because I was cheap and available than my ability to sell books ,). This cover was a blast!!! WAAAYYY more fun than I thought it would be. See, I've never felt like I had a thing for fantasy. I was never particularly interested in it as a sub-genre.... it just never grabbed me the way it did many of my friends. This cover changed my mind and I hold it directly responsible for this hankering I have to do some sort of weird fantasy project. Damn you Ale.... first you allow me to be comfortable with my love of eighties cock rock and then you turn me on to elves and orcs and shit..... bastard.

Catch up

2009-08-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Been a couple of weeks, which means it's high time for a few new posts. Got some stuff I did in San Diego to show in the coming weeks as well as some older unpublished pieces to share. First order of business, though, is to bring people up to speed with Wednesday Comics. Posted here are the black and white versions of pages 3 and 4. Gotta clarify that posting these by no means takes away any of the respect I have for the AMAZING work of Barbara Ciardo who is just kicking ass on the colors. Hopefully, people will dig seeing both versions. I'm very pleased, to say the least, with the work Barbara has done. Can't really say enough about her other than I want to work with her for some time...

Got to finally hear some feedback about Wednesday Comics in San Diego. It's always informative to find out what people think of the work, both good and bad. What's more, working in this weekly format has really taught me a few things about what people expect from the project. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's been a real peep-hole into the mind of the reader. Main thing learned: People are far less patient with the stories in this format. I would have thought that you could do more with your space, play around with the tempo of the overall story a bit more, but it seems as though most readers prefer the pace to remain fairly constant to feel like they've gotten enough bang for their buck. I could totally understand this if we were doing something ongoing, more along the lines of a classic newspaper strip that is fairly open ended. I personally see what we're doing as a finite story, with an ending clearly in sight and that the story should work to satisfy the needs of a WHOLE, not the individual pages. That said, I would love to hear what you guys think about this subject.

Other big thing I learned: Newsprint seems to have darkened almost every body's work. Chi was totally right. Modern comics are far too heavy with their coloring. That said, this sucker is going to look BEAUTIFUL in a big, collected coffee table book.

Oh, and here is an interview I did for ComicVine at the convention. It's really a great site. I was totally unfamiliar with it but hopefully you'll get a kick out of checking them out:

http://www.comicvine.com/san-diego-comic-con-09-lee-bermejo/112-341/

More to come....

The Beast Approaches...

2009-07-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

So this is pretty much how I feel around this time of year. Scrambling to get as much done as possible before the deliciously dangerous juggernaut we all like to call the San Diego Comic Con. The thing is, though, that every year I both dread the con and revel in it at the same time. Gotta say that after 16 years of attending the thing, it still fills me with the same sense of anticipation and excitement that it did when I was fifteen. There will be books to buy, some already on the list and some yet to be discovered. There will be drinks to be had, some disgustingly watered down in a plastic cup and others with that rich, bold finish that gives your night the runny edges of watercolors. There will be sketches to be done, some nice to look at although painfully overworked and others that I would like to lock in a vault somewhere as I sob to myself softly, starring at the vault key grasped tightly in my doritos stained fingers. There will be panels and signing to take part in, both involving a lovely little project called Wednesday comics. There will be Mexican food to be eaten... have I bored you already with this crap...?

If you find yourself wandering the overcrowded halls of this lovely monstrosity, cupping your nose to avoid the stench of body odor and CK1, stop by the Splashpage Comic Art booth and say hi. It seems I will be there most of the convention, when I don't have Wednesday Comics related events going on at the DC booth. In all seriousness, it's always great to meet people who share a love for this strange, fascinating medium we all are dedicated to. I will be doing comissions if you can get in early enough to get on the list but no promises. ;)

The blog will slow way down for the next week or two, but I promise to return with a slew of new posts. Hopefully there will be one or two decent comissions to show off, along with some new Superman pages in black and white and other surprises.

It's Wednesday.....

2009-07-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2009-07-07-superman1_N.htm

OK, so today is Wednesday Comics day. The first issue should be at your local shop right about now. The first Superman strip by the amazing Mr. John Arcudi and yours truly can also be found in today's copy of USA Today, and at their website via the url posted above. I know, I know... this sounds like a commercial, but realize that if you pick this up you're also getting a boat load of other stories by creators far better than myself. I personally can't think of a better representation of the diversity this medium has to offer right now than in this project. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get my hands on a copy until I make it back to the States in a couple of weeks for the big, bad San Diego con. Let me live vicariously through you guys!!! I'd love to hear what you think about this book, both good and bad. What were your favorite stories? Favorite creative teams? How do you like the format? I myself cannot wait to see the Deadman strip by Bullock!!!! The Joe Quinones Green Lantern also has my interest peaked, as everything I have seen from the guy has been spectacular.

Here's to my fellow Wednesday comics creators for making me a jealous man!!! Keep it up, boys and girls!!

a filthy mess....

2009-07-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

So here are some sketches I did for the Filthy Rich cover. Definitely fun to just sit down with a brush and go for it. Although the clear choice was definitely the one we went with, the other options always seem to shed a bit of light on the creation process in general. This is also definitely the phase where I have the most fun in any cover gig. If possible, I try to take the sketches as far as possible without actually making a 'finished' piece. If I can answer as many questions as possible while working out the basic drawing and composition, there always seem to be less hurdles to jump on the final. The risk is always that you beat the life out of it. The trick is really knowing when to just let things go. A trick I CLEARLY have not learned.....

That's just filthy....

2009-07-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

I really hope this blog can be a place not only to show off new work, but also to take some chances with illustration that may be difficult to do while working professionally in an industry that can be very unforgiving to artist attempting to experiment with style and technique. Every once in a long while, though, you find yourself in a position to try something a bit different and are lucky enough to have some support in this endeavor from the powers that be. Such is the case with the covers I've recently had the pleasure of doing for Vertigo's upcoming crime line. Vertigo is really the place to be. I LOVE working with the folks over there and I feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what a fun challenge these illustrations have been.
When my long-time editor extraordinaire Will Dennis approached me about this project, he specifically asked me to try out something new. As if that wasn't already enough incentive, when he started telling me about the subject matter, it became an opportunity to sweet to pass up. Will wanted a series of covers that, 1). looked more like book covers than comic covers, and 2). had a strong graphic design feel to them. I consider myself to be fairly adept at illustrating 'moments' and freeze framing action, but really have always felt a bit average at composition. These covers would be a challenge to think outside my box and try to go in a direction where a lot of what I had learned doing comic book illustration would have to be ignored.
I did a series of sketches for each cover (I'll be posting them as well later) in color to try and nail down the look and feel that pleased everyone in Vertigo editorial. In the sketches, I was asked to play around with very rough logo placement, something normally not required of a comic cover artist, and that turned out to be quite a big key for me to get into the head space I needed to make these things a tad different. It determined where the point of interest needed to be placed and that in turn forced me to drop other unnecessary detail. The image above is the cover for Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos' Filthy Rich, one of the first books to see print in the line. Chances are, if you're reading this blog you're already familiar with Brian's work. The guy delivers marvelously every time and this is certainly no exception. I'm hoping people will really dig these books, as they really capture the grit and atmosphere of noir. It's exactly the type of risk taking I'd like to see more of in the American market.

Batman Black and White statue!!!!!

2009-06-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

Since DC Direct has already solicited the statue they did based on my designs for Batman, I figured it would be cool to show a bit of work I did to help the sculptor get the details right. When the amazing folks at DC Direct got a hold of me for this they already had a pose in mind, based on the first Gotham Knights cover I did. I asked to make some minor modifications to costume in order to represent what I'm doing with the costume now, specifically with the graphic novel I'm currently working on. They were kind enough to oblige so I started a few detailed drawings to give them a clearer vision. The idea was that the drawings would also show just how the costume was assembled, starting with the body suit and moving on to the cape, cowl and accessories.
My ideas for the armor and overall texture of the costume are pretty specific, and I was really pleasantly surprised by just how accurate the ridiculoulsly talented sculptor, Jean St. Jean, was to my drawings, right down to the seams of the kevlar!!! Of course some of the little particulars had to be ignored due to the size of the final figure. For example, I usually portray Batman's cape as being made of a cracked leather or something similar to mimick the texture of a bat wing. At just over six inches, that type of detail just starts to look dirty. In the end, though, the COOLEST aspect of working on this was learning what works and doesn't work in three dimensions. As sculpturally as I like to think while drawing, nothing compares to seeing the thing in the flesh (or modeling clay as it may be). It definitely pointed me towards studying more sculpture in general. Come on....Bernini!!!! Does it get any better?

Superman strip in USA Today!!!!!

2009-06-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20090615/dcweekly15_st.art.htm

Now THIS is exciting news to me!!! Yeah, yeah, so I'm probably a bit biased in this case but I'd much rather have more of this kind of thing in our industry as opposed to bringing dead characters back to life about once every year or so and making a big deal out of it. It's like this, folks.... anything that broadens how people can see comics is a positive thing for the business. I'm pretty proud to be part of this (not to mention grateful!!!), and hope that we can at least get a few people to walk into a comic store out of curiosity. Definitely need to give a huge amount of credit to editor Mark Chiarello who is pulling the reins on this crazy bronco. It's his brainchild and I'm happy to see something he's responsible for getting national media coverage.
Enough of the soapbox! In honor of this, here is the black and white version of page 2. Again, DC unveiled this a while back on their blog in color, so hopefully a few of you (and I stress a few) will get a kick out of seeing the pencil work. Always fun to do Gotham City....

What's black and white with inkwash all over it...?

2009-06-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

Starting in July, DC Comics will be releasing a weekly series called Wednesday Comics that will feature a unique newspaper strip-style format. I've been lucky enough to be included in the mix, doing the Superman strip with the amazing John Arcudi on writing duties and relative newcomer colorist extraordinaire Barbara Ciardo. Since the folks at DC have already released a couple preview pages in color I figured I'd share my original black and white artwork here.
This is probably the first project where I have really made a deliberate effort to soften things in the black and white phase. Coming off of Joker, where I tried hard to give the artwork a dirty, hard, grimy look, this proved to be more time consuming and difficult than I would have liked but it' definitely helped me to think more about turning my forms. Looking at a lot of Bernini and Ingres also seemed to put me in the right mindset. There's also something about the look of those old Hollywood serials that I connected with while trying to find the right approach for the story. I felt like the alien should look almost like a guy in a rubber suit or something...
The story really focuses on Superman's emotions and the acting definitely had to play a big part in the page. It's been a challenge to try and pull off some of the subtle facial expressions and body language throughout the course of this little project. Of course, the fact that the originals are HUGE helps give me the space to play around a bit more. More of these to come....

Never be Andy McKee

2009-06-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

So here's the first post on this new adventure called blogging (or in my case just talking out of my ass). Since I feel like I'm the last person on Earth to start one of these things, let's just jump right into some art and skip most of the banter.
I did this piece a few years ago, and recently dug it out to throw on some quick colors. In most of my cover work, I've tried to achieve something of a painterly look, but find myself growing a bit tired of it. I'd still like to try and take a similar approach to my drawing but leave the colors a bit flatter and simpler. The goal is that the stuff will come off as a bit more graphic and less soft.
I'm also a big fan of off kilter colors. This is probably the result of spending so much time initially trying to keep pieces within some kind of 'realistic' color scheme. It's time for some painful exploration to push the work in another direction. Hopefully this blog will give me a good excuse to play around like this.