A few months ago I was vising my mom’s house where I found a box of old drawings I did when I was a kid. There were drawings I did of Veritech fighters from Robotech to comic books and superheroes. Last night I was looking through these treasures from my childhood. I had a blast remembering how I’d stay up late, looking at my comics and wanting to create and recreate these awesome artworks. One of the drawings that jumped out to me last night was this one of Iron Man. I drew this 20 years ago in 1989 when I was 14 years old.
In the late 80s I was reading all the Marvel Comic I could get my hands on, but Iron Man was on the top of my favorites list. I’m a huge science fiction fan and Iron Man was a perfect meld of Sci-Fi and Comics. This drawing was a recreation of the cover of Iron Man 244, it was originally drawn by Bob Layton. I remember being blown away by the split screen showing Iron Man’s then-current suit and his original grey one. I had to redraw it. So this is not a tracing, but a recreation of a cool comic cover. This is how I learned to draw. I’d look at a comic and try to recreate it. I didn’t take any art classes when I was young, but I loved to draw.
Looking at this drawing I did as a bright-eyed kid so many years ago really reminded me of the passion I had for comic book art back then. I feel very lucky that as an adult I haven’t lost that passion. I plan on posting more of my childhood drawing up, so keep an eye out. -PoW, Zap, Zooom!
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 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.
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’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.
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.
Here’s a quick sketch I did a few days ago of one of my characters, the Grimm Creeper. He’s an assassin/hunter who primarily works for Nemcromn the main villain in a comic story I’m working on. He has hyper-quick reflexes, agility is a master of stealth, and several fighting techniques.
Here is a digitally inked Pinup of an awesome penciled piece of the Fantastic Four by artist Ariel Padilla. I found the pencils on his DeviantArtpage and I knew I had to ink it. I used Adobe Illustrator so I could create a vector image. This way it can be reduced or enlarged with no pixelation of the image. This is actually my second piece digitally inked but the first I’ve done in Illustrator. My Batman 2.0 character redesign was my first digitally inked piece but for that I used Photoshop. I have used Illustrator in the past to create illustrations, logos, advertisements, and marketing but this was the first time I incorporated my graphic design skills into inking.
I have a Wacom tablet but for this digital inking, I used only my mouse and the pen tool. So basically the piece is all straight vector anchor points. This illustration took about 5 hours, which is longer than I thought it would, but it was fun and a nice practice piece. On my next Illustrator ink, I plan on using the Wacom tablet and the brush tool. Right now it is all about having fun and learning to use the tools I use in my graphic design work in my comic book artwork. My next step will be to create flats for these inks and maybe color them too.
Original Pencils of Fantastic Four by Ariel Padilla
This years 24 hour comic was great! I was able to create a 24-page comic in 23 hours. With the help of my wonderful girlfriend Consuelo. The best inker around! It was organized by 7000 BC and True Believers the local comic shop here in Santa Fe, NM. After 23 hours we created a fully inked comic book titled “Aliens and Heroes”. This was truly a great test of creativity. There was a great turnout here in Santa Fe. Over 25 fellow comic artists. I met a lot of cool people. After producing 24 pages in as many hours I feel a higher sense of confidence in my comic-creating ability.
