F.A.Q.'s part 2

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...

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

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

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

Even sluttier.....

New York Times

I Know It's Over

Mother...I can feel...

the soil falling over my head.

,)

Love that song....

F.A.Q.'s

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...

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...

.... 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

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

....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

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

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

Variant cover. You all know the drill...

Wetness is hard to draw.

NYC

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

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'...

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.....

"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?

Would love to be able to do this for real.

Having one of those days....

Bag no longer contains cat......

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..