A Journey through Art and Making Comics.
Ralph Contreras is a comic book nerd who enjoys creating art. Ralph’s artist blog, RSC Arts is where he shares his creative process, insights, inspirations, and comics
Andrew Martinez character design by Ralph Contreras
Character Sketches of Andrew Martinez
I am currently working on the comic book “Dark New World” with Carlos Parra. It’s a continuation of his independent zombie film. He’s introducing a lot of new characters into this awesome zombie-infested comic world.
Here are the initial Character Sketches for Private Andrew Martinez, one of the new characters from the mind of Carlos Parra. The character is a veteran of the recent Iraq war. He uses the skills and training he received from the armed forces to survive this Dark New World.
Andrew Martinez design sketches
With these character design sketches, I took into consideration Martinez’s military knowledge. Carlos sent me several photos of soldiers in uniform for the general look he wanted for Martinez. I used these references and modified them a bit to come up with his look while still keeping to the standard U.S. Army desert uniform. He’s in 30’s so I tried to show that in these sketches. He doesn’t look too old or too young.
I was very fortunate to be able to attend the “MOVIES, GAMES, AND COMICS PANEL” this weekend at the Albuquerque Film Festival 2009. The speakers on the panel were T.Q. Jefferson: the Marvel Comics Director of Games, the Eisner-nominated Pander Brothers: Jacob and Arnold Pander, and a writer/director from Rogue Taurus Productions. It was a great relaxed panel where they told us about how they work with the story, licensing, and marketing of their projects.
T.Q. Jefferson from Marvel Comics showed us a trailer for the new Iron Man 2 video game, which by the way rocked! He also showed some awesome character design concept art for Iron Man and Crimson Dynamo. He explained how the video game and the movie are both coming from the same place, but can still stand equally on their own. The story in the game is not a retelling of the new movie, but just a new adventure with the same characters and spirit from the movie. The game has been in development for over a year now, so the creators know the general idea of the new movie but not the whole story. He hinted that the games for both the Thor and Captain America movies are already in development too.
Tasty Bullet graphic novel trailer
I had missed seeing the Pander Brothers last year when they came to the Santa Fe Film Festival with their award-winning identity theft thriller SELFLESS, so it was a nice surprise to see them on this panel. Jacob and Arnold Pander are both well established comic book, writers and artists. They have worked for both Marvel and DC, in film, video, animation design, and illustration. Arnold Pander talked to us about his newest project Tasty Bullet, a graphic novel he’s working on with Jonathan Vankin. We got to see a really cool trailer for the graphic novel too. He also explained what type of promotions they have planned to bring readers to the book, including an ARG (Alternate reality game) and the creation of vintage commercials for the tasty drink. The graphic novel will be published by Image Comics.
Rogue Taurus Productions is an independent film company based in Albuquerque, NM. They have created several movies which were filmed in New Mexico. It was interesting to hear the writer/director from Rogue Taurus assess that comics, video games, and movies all come from the same place. The desire to tell a compelling and interesting story. He commented on how the beginning process is similar to each other, but they create completely different storytelling mediums.
This was a great panel and I really had a fun time listening to what they had to say. I learned some new information regarding the creative writing process when it comes to licensing properties. Thanks to the Production Central ABQ for hosting this panel through the Albuquerque Film Festival 2009.
I created this comic book in 23 hours with the help of my girlfriend (she inked the pages) for 24 Hour Comic 2008.
This was the first year I participated in the 24 Comic Book Day. The goal was to create a full 24-page comic book in 24 consecutive hours. It was organized by 7000 BC and True Believers our local comic shop. There were over 20 artists who drew their own comics. We all met at Warehouse 21. A great community center for youth and the arts here in Santa Fe. There was even a small exhibition showcasing the comics we created.
I had a blast doing this and will definitely take part again this year. I can’t wait!
Here it is….my drawing of Vader’s Fist, the 501st Legion. I started drawing this picture a few weeks ago. I took a week off from drawing it and finished it this weekend. I had a lot of fun with this drawing. I usually draw comic book stuff, but I felt like changing it up. I’ve never really drawn a Stormtrooper from Star Wars before, so I decided to draw a bunch. I choose the 501 because they aren’t just any legion of Stormtroopers. They are the Elite in the Empire and Darth Vader’s personal legion and later Grand Admiral Thrawn’s too. Check out this article at Wookipedia to learn more about them.
This pencil drawing was done on 11″x17″ Bristol board paper. Comic book art paper to be exact. I used an HB woodless pencil to sketch it out, then used an HB mechanical pencil to darken the lines I liked. I used little Xs to show where the solid black area would be. When I finished with the darkening of the final lines, I used a 4B woodless pencil to fill in the black areas. To see the beginning stages of this drawing check out my blog post ” Star Wars – Vader’s Fist – Beginning Drawing“
I’m planning on digitally inking this pencil drawing in illustrator. I like inking digitally with Illustrator because vector images are always perfect no matter how you resize them. I haven’t decided if I’m going to color it in Photoshop or in Illustrator though.
This last weekend I drove down to Albuquerque for the Annual Collectors Con. It showcases comic books, anime, and toys. I went last year after moving back to New Mexico from Las Vegas, NV and I had a blast. This year I was excited to see what other cool and fun stuff would be there. The con is sponsored by Lobo comics, a local comic book shop in Albuquerque, NM.
I found a personal treasure this year at one of the booths. The Mighty Avengers issue #242! When I was a kid this was the very first comic book I read. A few years back when I opened my own comic book store, “Modern Age comics” in Las Cruces, NM. I used my personal collection as the starting inventory. I had comics from 17 years of collecting, about 8,500 comics and Avengers 242 was among them. I remember selling my copy during the first few weeks. I was happy it was sold to a kid who was starting to buy comics for the first time. That was actually really cool. So it was very cool for me to find a copy this weekend. This one will stay in my new collection.
There were a good amount of booths this year, with comics ranging from the Silver Age to current issues. Of course, there were those hard-to-find issues like the Amazing Spider-Man with President Obama in it. There were rows and rows of great comics, toys, and models. There was also a good variety of movie merchandise and collectibles. It was really fun to see a Kryptonian crystal from the newest Superman movie and lifesize green Kryptonite. My favorite collectible I saw at the con was a set of Star War Return of the Jedi glasses from Burger King. I remember having the full set when I was a kid until our dishwasher ate them.
There were some booths with super hard-to-find toys from G.I.Joe, Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, and Dc Direct. Some of the older figures were out-of-print originals from the ’80s and ’90s. I’ve never been the biggest toy collector, but I was impressed with all the cool toys at this con. The sculptures on the more modern toys were so good, they look like they could be models and statues. I think the McFarlane Toy line that started out in the 90’s really brought up the bar in toy manufacturing. I found myself wanting to buy every figure there, so I could take them out of the packaging to play with…I mean put on display. :p
If I hadn’t given myself a $20 limit I think I could have spent my whole paycheck easily. I think I actually spent around $30 bucks though. I was close to my budget. It’s fun to just browse the cool backstock of comics. You never know when you’ll find that issue you’ve been looking for. It’s even more fun to find comics you’ve never heard about. I was able to find some great comics. The Mighty Avengers 242 was the most exciting for me personally, but I also found a whole set of Superman: the Dark Side (an awesome Elseworlds comic where Kal-El lands on Apokolips instead of Earth, he’s not a nice guy in it), I also bought Ka-Zar #16 for a buck. It’s a fun issue where he fights Klaw.
Comic books and toys weren’t the only things to see at this con, there was an “artist alley” of sorts too. It was really cool to meet people that not only like comics but like them so much they create them too. Andy Kuhn who draws Firebreather from Image comics was there. He lives and works out of Albuquerque, NM. His stuff is fun and very dynamic. Next to him were the guys from 7000 BC, a locally run comic book organization for independent comics in New Mexico. These guys are very cool, Paul Ziomek and his brother Peter Ziomek who were both at the con representing 7,000 BC. The group also teaches classes to kids showing them that anyone can have fun creating comics. Their booth at the Collectors Con showcased the great work of different styles the group puts out.
I had a blast at this year’s Albuquerque Collectors Con. I will be planning on going again next year. Maybe I’ll take some of the comics I still have from my closed shop or maybe I’ll try to get into the “artist alley” with my own comic book. Right on to everyone that was there and to all my fellow comic nerds! SHAZAM!!
Drawing table set up with various photos for reference
Vader’s Fist – Beginning Drawing
I’ve been working on a drawing of Vader’s Fist. Also known as the 501 Legion for the past few days. They are an elite legion of Clone Troopers and later Stormtroopers from Star Wars. They became Darth Vader’s personal legion of Stormtroopers because they were the best around.
Today is Star Wars day, originating from “May the 4th be with you”. So I’ve decided to upload a few images of my creative process on this drawing. The photos were taken as a way for me to see my progress from a blank page to the finished drawing. I will ink it using Adobe Illustrator when I am completely done.
My drawing table is set up with various photos of clone troopers and storm troops for reference. I’ve taped down my 11″x17″ bristol board paper to keep it secure. This is actually comic book paper, the kind used by comic artists.
This first image is my sketch of the troopers. I usually draw superheroes, but being a huge Star Wars fan I wanted to do something different. So I decided to have some fun and draw a group of Stormtroopers. I did this initial sketch with an HB Ebony woodless pencil. I used this pencil with my previous quick drawing of Thor the God of Thunder from Marvel comics. I found that I really enjoyed working with the softer pencil. I have struggled with what type of pencil I feel comfortable working with. Usually using a very hard lead to start off with. Like an H2 to an H6.
After my first initial sketch, I went ahead and focused on the first figure. A clone trooper in the uniform worn during the latter half of the Clone Wars. This armor was first seen in Episode III Revenge of the Sith. It’s very memorable because it shows a bridge between the Stormtroopers from the original trilogy to the Clone Troopers from Episode II. As you can tell I’ve started the beginning sketches of the Stormtrooper to the left of the Clone Trooper.
Process of 501st drawing
This is as far as I’ve gotten with my drawing of the 501 Legion. I took a break today to celebrate Star Wars Day by watching Episode IV and posting this blog. I’ve had a lot of fun with this drawing. I’ve never drawn a Stormtrooper before and I think I’ve done pretty well. I need to finish the back trooper, then I will move on to the one on the far right, then the one on the bottom. When I’m done with the drawing I’m going to digitally ink it using Illustrator. I’m very excited because I plan on using my Wacom tablet and the brush tool. I’ve spoken with several cool people on Twitter who gave me some great tips. My next blog post regarding this drawing should be about the final stages and the final pencil drawing.
Here are my digital inks of Thor, the God of Thunder. He’s one of Marvel Comics’ main characters. A founding member of the Avengers and actually in the very first comic book I ever read. This is the new costume he’s wearing in his new monthly title.
This was a pencil drawing of Thor I did last week. It was a quick drawing using an HB woodless Ebony pencil. I traditionally use an H6 pencil for light-tight penciling. For this, I actually was able to achieve good detail with the softer lead. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone and try different drawing tools.
I inked this drawing digitally using Adobe Illustrator. I didn’t do it in one sitting. I took my time and did it in small spurts during the week. (Usually watching a Netflix movie on the side). I’ve only just recently started inking my drawings on the computer, which is ironic because being a Graphic Designer for over 10 years you’d think I would have done it years ago.
I like using Adobe Illustrator for inking, I know a lot of people use photoshop which is a great software too. The reason I use illustrator is that I like saving my inks as a vector images. Vector images are great because there are no worries about pixelation. They are always super high resolution even if it’s reduced or enlarged.
For this inking, I only used the pen tool with my mouse or Wacom tablet. It helps to give me the look I want to achieve. I like the sharp edges and thick to-thin lines I get with it. There’s an amount of control I feel I have with the pen tool. I think in my next digital inking I will use only the bush tool. Like I said earlier it’s always good to try different tools. I plan on coloring these inks in the near future using Photoshop.
Here’s a pencil drawing I did of Thor the God of Thunder from Marvel Comics. It’s his new costume he’s been wearing since his return to his own monthly title. Which by the way is a very excellent read.
This drawing started off as me just sketching while watching a movie, but became more detailed as I got into the drawing. I totally lost interest in the movie. I have recently been drawing mainly with an H6 Staedtler wood pencil, but for this drawing, I decided to try a different lead. I actually used a much softer pencil, an HB woodless Ebony.
I tried not to sharpen the pencil or use an eraser much. I started off with a very light sketch and build on top of it adding details and shadows. The lines on this drawing are much thicker than I usually do. Using a softer lead was a challenge for me, but I really like the results. I’m excited to digitally ink this in Illustrator. I will make sure to post the inked version when I’m done.
Comic books have always seemed to be an important part of my life in one form or the other. I’ve been a fan of the stories, the rich character development, and histories, of course, the artwork, a hardcore collector, and I even owned and ran my own comic shop for years. My all-time dream is to be able to create my own comic book or be involved in the creative part of the industry. I am in the process of achieving that dream, and with hard work and determination I know I’ll reach my dream.
When looking back at my love affair with the comic book genre I realized that I actually remember the very first comic book I read. This was 25 years ago and I was like 9 years old. I didn’t go to any comic shops and I wasn’t actively looking for a comic book. I was just at home being a nerdy kid playing with my Star Wars toys. My aunt Ruth came over to my house for a visit. She handed me a stack of comics. They were taken from her husband who was a comic book collector. She was clearing out space at her home and thought I might like them. I had never really been interested in comic books before, sure I had watched Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends as well as the Super Friends cartoon. So I knew about superheroes, but this was my first introduction to the amazing world of comic (sequential) storytelling.
My Introduction to the World of Comic Books
The very first comic I read from the stack of comics she gave me was The Mighty Avengers 242. So this is officially the first comic book I ever read.
I remember the cover caught my eye because I wanted to know who the shadow figure was and why everyone looked so shocked. What I also remember most about this issue was the introduction of Mockingbird by Hawkeye to the Avengers. It was a good introduction issue for a new reader like myself.
There wasn’t really a lot of action in this issue, but there was a compelling story. The comic showed me how this group was friends and close like family. This can only really be shown in a long-running story. So I wanted to know more about these characters.
It ends with Captain America, Wasp, She-Hulk, Thor, Captain Marvel, and Hawkeye heading to a strange structure in Central Park New York, and getting zapped away. As a kid I didn’t know what was happening, did they die or what?
The next comic book I read was Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 1. With a great cover like that, you’d think it would’ve been the first one, I’d read. It’s actually my good fortune that I read this comic next. Avengers 242 leads right into this one. You can imagine my pleasant surprise to discover the Avengers didn’t die but were instead transported to an arena with a lot of other superheroes.
Again being that this was my first time reading comic books it was great to start with this issue too. It introduced me to all the major characters (heroes and villains) in the Marvel Comics universe. With a quick synopsis of who they were and what they were all about.
The premise of Secret Wars was that of a super cosmic being named the Beyonder and how he gathered Earth’s greatest heroes and villains to basically fight to the death. The winner would receive their heart’s desire. I remember how Galactus flies to attack the entity and is swapped like an insect. As a 9-year-old kid, this just blew me away.
The third comic I read was probably the most famous of the lot. Amazing Spider-Man 252. As most people know (well at least the one’s in comic book circles) this is the first appearance of Spider-Man’s black suit. Which we later learn is actually an alien Symbiote life form. Years later the suit eventually becomes one of Spider-Man’s deadliest villains named Venom.
I was familiar with Spider-Man from his Saturday morning cartoon series on tv, but this Spider-Man was very different. This Peter Parker was much grittier. He wasn’t as go-lucky as I had known him from the cartoon. With the addition of this black suit, the charter just seemed darker to me.
I remember the first page of the comic shows the Daily Bugle with the headline about missing superheroes. This issue takes place after the event of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. So I was excited to know that Spider-Man would survive the Secret War. This was the first Spider-Man comic I had ever read and I was very intrigued by how different it was, I was super excited to read more.
The final comic in the group my aunt gave me was the one that showed me the depth of storytelling and character development that could be found in comic books. Sure I was only a kid but the story really blew me away and I knew this was something special. The comic was Phoenix the Untold Story and my introduction to the world of mutants and the X-Men.
This story is a reprint of Uncanny X-Men 137 with the original attended ending. It takes place after the Dark Phoenix Saga and is where Jen Grey is judged for her crimes as Phoenix. Like the Avengers comic I read, this group of heroes were more than just teammates, they were a family.
This comic book takes us through the minds of all the heroes, showing their hopes and dreams. It shows the love that Jean and Scott have for each other and the pain her loss will bring to the whole group. The X-Men fight against aliens with their own powers for Jean’s life. In the end, she sacrifice’s herself before the darkness that was Phoenix could return to harm her friends.
As I look back at these first comic books I read, I fully realized how lucky I was. These were groundbreaking stories and a great way to start my life as a comic book reader. I had no knowledge that comic book stores existed back then so every time my parents would put gas I’d look for the comic section. I didn’t care if the comics were bent (which they usually were) I was just excited to see what cool new stuff was out. I remember there was a gas station named the Good Time Store and its logo was a big smiley face. That’s where I always found the latest issues of Secret Wars.
It’s been a great 25 years of comic reading. There have been so many great story arcs and a few not so good, but it’s always been a huge pleasure. These stories have had the greatest visuals imaginable and anything is possible. I’ve read all the great character development through the hero’s adventures and tragedies. Although I started as a Marvel Comics fan I now read other comic companies like DC, Dark Horse, and so many Independent comics. I know that for the next 25 years and most likely the rest of my life I will enjoy reading comic books. They are our modern mythology and I thank my Aunt Ruth for introducing them to me.
Last week I was working on character design sketches for one of my characters named Nemcromn. These were drawn in a pocket sketchbook I carry around. I thought it would be cool to upload these to show the steps in my thought process when designing what I want a character to look like.
These are sketches of Nemcromn’s Face. I did a 3/4 view, a front view, and a profile. I was trying to capture a sinister look. He wears a skullcap. His face has two major scars and his left cheek has one that stretches to his ear. He’s a mystic Zombie Necromancer so I tried to reflect this in his skin by making it look a little rotten. He also has no pupils.
Here’s a front full-body view. I like to draw a quick sketch of the form, then I can start customizing the character’s look. When I originally came up with Nemcromn’s look a few years ago I was really into Brom’s artwork. With his industrial mystic goth creatures and characters.
Here’s a sketch of Nemcromn with a little more detail. The skullcap stretches to cover his upper chest as well. He has leather straps wrapped around his waist and chest. The chest traps hold a small cape that goes over his left shoulder. Like the sketches of his face, Nemcromn’s body is that of a corpse. I wanted to show the scars and stitches that cover his entire body.
So who is Nemcromn? In life, he was Stephen Boyle, a wealthy adventurer who traveled the world looking for new and exciting challenges. Rock climbing, deep sea, and sky diving. He wanted to experience any and all he could. He began to get bored with these types of challenges and started to look inward and beyond. This route took him to dark places and eventually to the study of life beyond death. Using his vast fortune he bought all the knowledge he could in the study of life, death, and the undead. He became a powerful living necromancer and his studies taught him of the dark power that coexists with all life. In these studies, he learned of a celestial object traveling through space that could increase his power 1,000 times that of what he could possibly achieve on his own.
He discovered that one of these objects would fall to earth. Planning on taking the energies from the fallen object, Nemcromn using his original identity took 6 of his childhood friends on a dangerous hike up the mountain where he knew it would arrive. Like his former self, his friends were also adventures in extreme sports. Planning on sacrificing them and using their life forces to bond with the energies Nemcromn made a fatal miscalculation. The object fell to earth sooner than he thought, hitting the group and killing everyone but two of his companions. Nemcromn died in the impact that day. The power he craved was completely absorbed by one of the survivors, John McCarran. McCarran used the power to become one of Earth’s most beloved heroes, Solarus The Radiant Guardian.
Nemcromn who was now a master of life and death was not so easily defeated. No one knew of his secret life and Stephen Boyle was buried at his family plot. Several weeks after the funeral Nemcromn the lord of the dead dug himself out of the grave. He was now a powerful mystic zombie with more power than he had when he was alive. The necromancer used his dark knowledge to escape the afterlife. Now with a new purpose, he wants the destruction of Solarus and complete control of the world’s dead and living. He works in the shadows sending agents both dead and alive to set his plans into motion.
