Comics, Concept Art, Creative Ideas...

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Playing With Markers - The Green Goblin




I did this one a while back. It was just fooling around, coloring with my daughter. This wasn't really meant to be art. Sometimes when I'm loosened up and not "trying to be good" I come up with some fun unexpected stuff in different styles than I normally work in. I can't remember if she requested the Green Goblin or not, even though she's a toddler she knows who the Goblin is.

It's always fun to connect with my daughter.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Spidey Offed By Deadpool In Color

Same as yesterday's but this time in color.


And here's a little vintage-Todd art, the page from Bean that I stole this pose from myself.

Like I said in my last post, I think it worked better in the original, that was ten years old, even if it's rendered tighter in the contemporary version. I suppose this could be considered a spoiler for what happens in BEAN, but this scene doesn't exactly end here, and lets face it, it's not like it's a work of genius anyway.

I have no idea why this Deadpool guy wears a collar. Not exactly a choice I would have made. I would have taken that out but I wasn't sure if there was some significance to it so I left it in.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

2 Character Commission: Spider-Man Gets Iced By Deadpool


Well, it seems like my supporters are just as into Spider-Man as I am because I keep getting requests. This particular gentleman wanted a scene with both Spider-Man and a character called Deadpool. I don't know very much about Deadpool except that he came out the 90s right before the image era, so this was my attempt to try to get to try to discover him through art. I'm still not sure I connected with the character, but I'll let other's decide that.

I borrowed the pose from a page of my 1990s mini comic called BEAN (Now available to download). If you ever wondered where my handle "beanlynch" comes from, that's half of it. I changed the pose a little to try to give it a little more perspective, but I'm actually not sure it works as well as the original, even though the polish is much nicer. There are some foreshortening issues and there's this sort of action lighting that's coming from between the characters, which isn't natural in real life, but it does draw the focus to where the action is coming together, so I'm not sure if that's working for me or not. I'm not sure that it reads that well that Spidey's leaping through the air, but you know, I've used enough Titanium White on this one already and although I'm tempted to do it from scratch, I think an artist has to know when to let it rest. What I learn form this one, goes into the next.

Flaws aside, this is a pretty good representation of what you will get from me when you purchase a two character commission. So keep that in mind. Remember, when you purchase commissions from me or any of the other worthy artists out there, you're not just getting a great piece of art, you're also helping an artist get his career going.

Vintage Mini Comics - BEAN: Interdimensional Mercenary - Now Available For Download


I wasn't going to post this here because I posted under my non-art blog and it's old material from a time period when I drew in a somewhat different style. But I decided that perhaps I'll post some vintage artwork here from time to time when life has me too wrapped up to pump out much artwork.

This is material that I did about ten years ago now (with a few
modern edits). I wasn't sure if I was going to make it available because it doesn't reflect the current quality of my work. It also contains some personal reflection of a person that is longer me. But I've decided that it was always going to own me to some degree if I didn't set it out there.

Even though my art style was crude back then, often sloppy and drawn on cheap printer paper. The stories were very much stream of stream of conscious. I'm not even sure I knew where it was going. But I think even with the lack of structure and polish, my storytelling skills weren't that bad for a novice. It probably come from all that time reading comics.


Be aware, it contains some strong language.
Conservatives be warned, contains some pretty liberal commentary.


So anyway, here it is, available for download.
All contents are ©Todd Merrick Novak (me).



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SAMPLE PAGES



Friday, July 11, 2008

1 Character Commission: Spider-Man


So this is the first of the commission work I'm doing. To try to draw some attention to my art blog I'm doing a free drawing every month, picking one of the people, whom subscribe to my art blog by email (because those are the only subscribers I can track), by random, and doing a free one character (of their choice) commission in pen and ink on 9" x 12" heavy drawing paper. This one is for Reggie, whom really has made my day with his nice compliments. Reggie has his own blog, which is called Reggie Blogged, which is basically a comic fan blog, particularly focusing on Spider-Man. He has totally flattered me with praise in one of his posts, of which I'm definitely not worthy of, but it is much appreciated.

I'm not completely sure how I feel about this piece. I kind of loosened up a little for it, and a part of me really likes it, and another part of me isn't sure it's something that's going to connect with people. Reggie, let me know what you think of the image. If you're not totally satisfied with it I'll do another one. Otherwise this goes out your way on Monday.

If anyone is interested in a commissioned piece from me, you can always sign up on my blog and hope your name gets drawn, or you can email me and we can work something out. For a one piece illustration of this size, in ink, I charge $25. I'll even do nudies for ya if that's your thing. And remember, this sort of thing helps keep me doing art. It's a hard road to try to make it as an artist so when you buy art from artists whose art you appreciate, you're not only getting a great piece of art, you help that artist keep going in his art career.