Adult Braces

THESE ARE MY NEW FAVORITE THINGS!

2011-12-09T10:47:00.009-05:00

Top. Notch.
Thanks Kerry Callen!

(via Kerry Callen)

GuyAllenCreative Shop is Now Open!

2011-11-19T16:00:00.009-05:00

Announcing the Grand Opening of the GuyAllenCreative Shop!

With the help of my good friend Asif, the shop is finally open for business! Just click on the SHOP button located in the header of the website! From there you will find original art and sketchbooks as well as other projects and rarities that I have worked on. Some of this stuff is pretty hard to find, so be sure to snap it up before it's too late!

I am hoping to add more original pages and products to the shop, so please check back often. Many items are in low quantity so don't hesitate.

Thanks
Guy

My Life Lately

2011-11-18T14:07:00.027-05:00

Ok, so some of my friends have been giving me grief for not making any blog posts in, like, forever; so here's one now.

The reason I haven't been posting in so long is because I'm on an amazing project and I'm really not allowed to show any of the art yet. Now before you roll your eyes, know this: I hate it when people write posts about art that they can't show you (Yes, I know, I'm doing that now. Thanks.) It's the worst and it's super annoying, so I decided just not to blog at all. However, with the help of some friends, I have come to the realization that not posting causes people to forget you even exist. Therefore, new blog post!

So, what's been going on in my life since my last post?

Welp, the first and pretty much the biggest thing to ever happen to me was the birth of my son, Brady. He showed up in July and that pretty much rocked my universe. All of the planning that we did ahead of time just wasn't enough! I realize now that you can never be prepared for something like this. It's hard work, but man, he's so awesome! Fatherhood really is the greatest thing ever.

Concerning the big secret project, all I can say is that it's an eight issue story arc and that I am doing interior pencils/inks and covers. Also, it's VERY cool! I feel so lucky to have landed it, as it's afforded me the opportunity to grow as an artist. It involves a whole new universe unlike anything that's out there, so the project has really tested my skills as far as world building and concepting. Every little aspect of this book had been designed. It's super exciting. Not to mention that the people I am working with are an exceptional bunch and are all super talented!

I can't wait until this thing is out in the public, as it has been an all consuming factor in my life. It's tough to come home from a full time job and bust out a respectable amount of pages per week. The only reason I do it is because I love it, and when it's out, hopefully you'll love it too!

In September, I decided to do something that I've never done before… I actually went to a con as an artist and not as an attendee! That was crazy but super fun! Detroit Fanfare was just the place for me to do my first con… not too big, not too small. Even though the attendance was pretty abysmal, the con was a great time & 'm really glad I did it. I got to make a little cash, hang with some friends and meet some new ones as well. Got to do some sketches too! For some reason, I only took pictures of the Captain Marvel sketches that I did. I don't get it.

In the meantime, I just keep drawing and try to be with my family as much as possible. I couldn't do any of this without my wife and child at my side. They are the best!

UPDATE: Kind of funny that this happened the same day that I spent all of my time writing this stinkin' blog post, but just out is a sneak peek of the project I was describing above! And it's on Boing Boing, so that's cool!

Also, I'll be posting more about Virga very soon!

Detroit Fanfare

2011-09-15T22:26:00.007-04:00

Hey everybody! Just wanted to let people know I'm going to have a table for Detroit Fanfare at Cobo Hall on September 24th and 25th.

Among the items I'll have for sale is my new 44 page sketchbook entitled "Adult Braces Volume 1". It's a high quality, limited edition run of 50 and it's only $10, so be sure to stop by and get yours!

Other items available will be:
Matinee Eclectica (52 pg) $5
Matinee Eclectica Variant cover (52 pg) $10
Gutters Omnibus Vol. 1 Hardcover (128 pg) $40
Yeti vs Robot Giclee on canvas $30
Full body sketches are $50 while busts are only $20!

Hope to see you there!
g

PS_ If you can't make it out to the show but want to get a sketchbook, drop me a line at guy@guyallencreative.com and I'll see what I can do!

MATINEE ECLECTICA NOW ON SALE!

2011-06-03T11:07:00.012-04:00

Hey guys,
Matinee Eclectica is now on sale over at IndyPlanet!

I encourage everyone to head on over and support the cause. It's a fantastic book with great writing, art & production value. Did I mention that this thing is huge? 52 pages of quality content, well worth the cover price. You won't be disappointed!

My contributions to Matinee Eclectica include a 3 page short story called "When Animals Attack,' and the variant cover!

Thanks!
Guy
www.guyallencreative.com

Guy Allen Creative has launched!

2011-05-12T11:16:00.000-04:00

Today I am pleased to announce the launch of my official website GuyAllenCreative.com It was a daunting task to get the site built, but for all of the struggle there was more pleasure and reward. This site would never have been possible without the hard work and effort of my friend Asif Gill. He basically did all of the heavy lifting when it came to building this thing, so please give him a visit here and here. Also please go check out his web comic 48 in Tokyo!

I invite you all to check out the website and feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions. One cool feature that the site has is the ability to see the "line art version" of most of my comic work. Simply go to the bottom right corner of any image and if there is a button that says "LINE ART" give it a click and you can see the inks. Click the "COLOR" button to go back to color. If you really like the piece, click zoom on the bottom left to see a bigger version! Under the "About" section, you will find links to follow me in all areas of social media as well as an RSS feed so you'll have up to date info on my goings on.

I really hope you all like it!

Guy
www.guyallencreative.com

Matinee Eclectica Variant Cover

2011-04-13T10:49:00.004-04:00

This is a limited edition variant cover for Matinee Eclectica, an anthology written by Ryan L. Schrodt and containing art from various artists. It is a project that I am very proud to be a part of. Not only did I do this cover, but I also have a 3 page short story in the book called "When Animals Attack." The cover art is a play on the fact that so many people read the title as "Manatee Electrica."

All lines and color by me!

Random samples

2011-04-13T10:42:00.003-04:00

'Sup? Here are some samples I have made of two different properties. Can you name them?

L8r 2k10. I hate you. ~ Hi 2k11! I love you.

2011-01-21T14:44:00.021-05:00

Been a while, y'all.

The end of 2k10 has kinda kicked my ass. Been sick 3 times in the last 6 months. Working too late at night. 15-16 hr. days non stop. Too hard for my own good. No breaks. Blah, blah, blah. Boohoo.

But it's all good.
Happy to work.
Still riding the chillwave.

Did some Gutters work, some sample pages for SEVERAL different properties (Can't say/show. Lame, I know.) and am trying to write my own comic. Not to mention my normal day job has been busy as heck.

Got on some peep's radars in 2k10, so that's cool.

Really looking forward to some major progress in 2k11 and for some "things" to finally be seen. I guarantee that 2k11 will be one of the greatest years of my life. I just know it!

In the meantime, below are some things that I CAN show you!

The first is a short story written by up and coming writer Ryan L. Schrodt It was done as a submission for Clint Magazine's Space Odditites. You can check that out right.. aboooouut..... here. This was a super fun story to illustrate.

I was recently asked to do samples for some possible upcoming Godzilla work. This is what I did. Again, super fun to work on. I hate doing pages for free, but on a job like this you can't say no!

That reminds me: My 2k11 resolution is to try and stay away from doing free art. Oops! Too bad I broke that resolution, like, 2 days into the new year. Oh well. It's being reinstated from here on out! I'm serious!

Happy New Year
G

Another Gutters Page!

2010-09-22T10:42:00.015-04:00

Hey everybody!
I've been crazy busy lately working on things and trying to make some other stuff happen (some of which I'll hopefully be able to share here in the future!). I swear I'll make a concerted effort to start posting more sketches, etc. on the blog again:) In the meantime, here's another Gutters page! Head on over to the site and check it out! This was a fun one to work on!!!

In between now and the last time I posted, I have done several Gutter pages for Ryan & The Blind Ferret crew, so I want to say thanks again to Ryan Sohmer, Ed Ryzowski & Lar deSouza for the opportunity and for taking it all to the next level!!!! They made the page sing! Also, big thanks to Paolo at Cadence Comic Art for finding the work & being an all-around cool dude!

Here's a look at some of the line work from this page:

Until next time!
Guy

Gutters!

2010-06-18T13:12:00.006-04:00

Hey guys
I just did an installment of Gutters written by Mr. Ryan Sohmer. It's a spoof called "11 Tips to Write like Garth Ennis." If you've got a second, I encourage you to go and check it out. The strip is pretty fantastic and is a great way to discover new artists (like myself).

Check it out HERE

PS_Also want to give a shout to Ed Ryzowski & Lar Desouza for helping to make my art look way better than it should! Thanks!

Quick Update!

2010-06-02T12:35:00.010-04:00

Hey everyone! Here's a real quick update cuz I have no time right now for a good one! I want to apologize for the infrequency of posts lately, but I want everyone to know that I haven't fallen off. I've just been super busy. I've been working on wrapping up Barbaric (with Dennis Hopeless) as well as moving houses, all the while trying to stuff in a freelance job and doing my regular 9-5. Then my relatives from CA decided to come and visit! As of right now we're living with my in-laws and are between residences, so every aspect of my life is kinda hectic and up in the air. Thank goodness I have amazing friends and family who have been helping through all of this.

On the future front: I have received several offers from writers on upcoming projects, which is very exciting. Two of them are kinda high-profile jobs (for me at least :) ), but I don't know for sure which one is going to happen or what is coming up next. Super optimistic though!!!! I will tell you more about these as things develop.

In the meantime, I just wanted to say hi and let you all know what I've been up to. Sadly, no major images to post, just a couple snippets of some random things. Can't really show anything else right now. Here's a good idea though: While you're waiting for me to post something else, go and visit Kevin Douglas' blog here. Kevin's got all of the comic insight you'll ever need, and he's local, so that's awesome!

Talk to ya soon!
G

Sneek Peek!

2010-04-28T12:16:00.003-04:00

Coming Soon:

Scarab Club 2/18/09

2010-02-19T11:00:00.005-05:00

More sketches from another night at the Scarab Club! Wasn't really feeling it tonight and ended up leaving early. Don't know what was up, but whatever. Sketches turned out ok. Still need a lot of work!

The last image was done last night right before I went to bed. It was drawn from a book about Florence, my favorite city on earth.
g

Scarab Number 6: Self-portrait #2

2010-02-05T11:35:00.003-05:00

Scarab Number 6
Self-portrait #2

Sketch from a session at the Scarab Club.
25 min. pose. That's my reflection in the mirror!

Scarab Club 1/21/09

2010-01-22T16:34:00.006-05:00

Here are some more sketches done last night at the Scarab Club. I really enjoyed this model. I would much rather draw old joints and wrinkled skin than that smooth skin any day!

These were all quick poses anywhere from 10-20 minutes.

Scarab Club

2010-01-18T13:28:00.007-05:00

I recently started to go back to the Scarab Club for some life drawing sessions. It can't hurt, right? I feel the need to always become a better draftsmen and I feel that drawing from a model is always the best way to do this. Sometimes, we pick up bad habits along the way, while we draw. Drawing from a model is a great way to clear that up.

Here is a drawing I did last saturday morning. It's very rusty, but I'm hoping to knock off the cobwebs and get them feeling fresh again, real soon.
g

Let the Sketches Roll!

2010-01-14T11:48:00.005-05:00

Initially, when I started the blog, my intentions were to only post finished art, or at least stuff that was close to finished. However, in an effort to keep the blog feeling fresh (and to help myself feel like I'm a productive person) I have decided to start posting more sketches and unfinished work. That's cool, right? Besides, if you want to see only finished work, you could always download my portfolio by clicking that button over there on the right side of the page. I hope that's cool with YOU!

Here are some sketches I did last night. They are head sketches from that book about sketching all those heads.

g

It's Thor Day!

2010-01-13T16:45:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure if it's because of all of the Thor movie news lately, but it seems as if everyone has been throwing up Thor sketches on Twitter the last two days. I had an hour or so to spare so I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring and give it a try. Sorry, no inks here. Can't do it. Just digi-pencils for me!

Hope you like it.
g

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T23:40:00.005-05:00

Found this old Christmas card laying around...

First Aid pt. 2

2009-11-22T22:12:00.008-05:00

Had to see how First Aid would look with the new viewer, so I went ahead and converted it. I think this is a much better way to view the pitches. Any thoughts?
g

PS_Oh yeah! Be sure to see it in full screen view! Looks so much cooler!

Fugue Viewer

2009-11-20T03:18:00.003-05:00

Just trying out a new way to share the comics. You've GOT to see it in FULL SCREEN MODE!!!! Woohoo!

Holy Crap! I was a winner for once!

2009-11-12T11:57:00.016-05:00

Hey guys,
Recently, Comic Geek Speak had a cool contest in conjunction with artist Freddie Williams II. I was one of 4 winners for the contest! Unfortunately, I didn't win the Grand Prize, which was an in depth portfolio review/critique by Freddie, but it was still a super fun and cool contest and am so glad I got to be a part of it. By being one of the winners, I did win a copy of Freddie's book and also had a little interview on the podcast.

If anyone is interested, you can here the interview right HERE. I sound like I am from Fargo or something:) Check it out!

Anyways, below is the piece that got me into the winner's circle.

Guy

First Aid

2009-11-08T19:26:00.009-05:00

Here's another recent pitch done with the very talented Sam Rugg. It's called First Aid. The concept is this: Every day, all over the world, people in first aid classes try to bring training dummies to life. First Aid looks at what happens when someone finally does it.

First Aid was another super fun pitch to work on. Sam is such a talented writer; so full of imagination. Look forward to big things from him! Pencils, inks, colors and letters by moi!

I hope you enjoy!
g

All art © Guy Allen and Sam Rugg

FUGUE

2009-11-08T19:04:00.016-05:00

Hey everybody!
In trying to update the blog in proper fashion, here is some more newer stuff!

The following is a recent pitch I did in conjunction with super-talented scribe Elton Pruitt. It's called FUGUE and has been describes as Enemy of the State meets The Package in a “ripped from the headlines” story of a covert U.S. power play in the Middle East. It was a really fun project to work on and taught me a lot about my own working process. All art done by me. Letters by Jason Hanley.

I hope you like it!

Guy

All art © Guy Allen and Elton Pruitt

Character Concepts

2009-11-08T19:00:00.006-05:00

Here is a character concept for a project with Australian writer Sam Rugg. We actually have a bunch of characters designed already, but I thought I'd share one with you all.
g

All art © Guy Allen and Sam Rugg

CGS Batman

2009-10-24T00:31:00.002-04:00

This was done for that Comic Geek Speak digital art contest. Finished just in the nick o' time!

This was my first time inking with the intention of spotting blacks. Crazy huh? Yeah, so it turned out kinda jacked up, but whatevs

Page Process

2009-09-01T11:44:00.024-04:00

I'm gonna start this off just like every other blog I read and say that it's been a long time since the last post. I know. I've been mega-busy. I'm married now. I'm a much wiser man than the guy in my last post. Been half way around the world. Got tons of stuff in the works that should be surfacing pretty soon, but that's another post. So onto the task at hand...

Someone requested me to do this. I feel like I am still learning all the time and am by no means an authority on anything, but here it goes: my process for quick coloring in comic books. I hope it can shed a little insight on someone else.

Step 1:
To begin, I loosely sketch out a thumbnail at about 2 or 3 inches in height which I use for the page layout. Here I include notes for myself as to what I might want to change, colors I have in mind, etc. Once it's done, I blow it up to full page size and use it as an underlay; often moving things around through out the process. As you can see, I ended up moving around the three panels at the bottom into a more dynamic arrangement.

Step 2:
I pretty much go right into finished lines from my thumbnail. This is probably a horrible idea, but it's just how I work. I will do a more detailed underlay though, if I have a crazy perspective shot or a close up on faces or hands... anything really difficult.

Step 3:
Here I start flatting out the piece. This consists of basically coloring in the lines. I isolate forms/ objects of importance where I don't want the color going into an object next to it. For instance, the girl in the second frame is all blue on it's own layer. The coffee table underneath is a peach color on the layer below her. Basically I am separating objects by using color. In the image below, I have 4 different layers that I am isolating with; each layer holding a different color. Then I hit the "Preserve Transparency" button and now I can't color outside of those color fields.

The rest is pretty basic rendering techniques really. Unfortunately, I don't do tonal underlays like the good painters do. I only do that if I am actually painting with brushes. Here I will go straight into color.

Step 4:
Now I start laying in basic tones of how I want the piece to feel and start setting the mood with color. I am trying to establishing the local color for every item in the image. I am making the important items in the frame stand out by their colors. Pushing and pulling things until a hierarchy is formed by the colors. Remember this needs to read quickly. The viewer needs to see first what you want them to see first. One way to accomplish that is through color choices.

Step 5:
For the girl, I begin by establishing her main flesh tone. Once that's in, I start in on either the darks or the lights, depends on the mood. If I start in on the darks first, I will start with her main value and then go a little bit darker in all of the areas I want dark. Then I go a bit darker the farther I go out, in order to fully express the volume. Then darker and so on, until I hit the darkest value that I want for her shadows to be. Then I do the opposite for the lights. It's all about light source, intensity, value and temperatures.

Step 6;
Once the flesh is done, I start on the dress and do the exact same thing. Now I am also making sure that these colors all look like they go together and blend.

Step 7:
Step back. Change some things. Notice I made a color shift in the wall at this stage. Something just wasn't feeling right to me overall so I had to change it. Add the highlights only on the important things. Put the icing on the cake. Done.

Again, this isn't the best way to do it; it's just the way I am working at the moment. I hope it helps!
g

PS_My equipment is a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac running Mac OS X v. 10.5.8 (Gonna get Snow Leopard in a couple days) Work in Corel Painter 9.5 and PS3. I've found both programs to be better at certain tasks than the other. This piece was done entirely in Painter. I use this tablet.

It's Almost Time...

2009-07-09T11:46:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone. It's been a whirlwind time for me lately, both personally and professionally. I haven't been able to post in a long time due to all of the action going on over here. I'm all set to get married this weekend and then we are off on an amazing European honeymoon for 16 days. I can't wait! All of our families are starting to arrive in town and so the pressure is really on now. So far everything has gone off perfectly. Gonna try my best to follow everyone's advice and just chill out and enjoy it...

On the comics front, there are some interesting developments happening as of late. Wrapping up one project right now and have a few more on the table that sound very enticing. Have been approached by and met several really great people in the comics community recently. Trying to find my spot within the industry is hard work and a lot of sacrifice, but it has been a pure joy.

ok, I gotta go! Thanks to everyone and I'll see you all real soon. I already can't wait to start working again.
g

Tarzan

2009-05-20T22:57:00.002-04:00

Produced for the PUMMEL Competition on PencilJack. The topic was Tarzan.

The Flashes!

2009-05-18T02:57:00.006-04:00

This is my Flash piece for the PencilJack Grand Championships for May. It took me all day to do, but I finally knocked it out.

P.U.M.M.E.L. Tournament Round 1

2009-05-11T12:53:00.011-04:00

This was done for PencilJacks's P.U.M.M.E.L. Tournament. In the first round my opponent got to pick the topic. He chose "Mounted Cobat." This is my submission. Didn't really have enough time to work on it, due to other obligations, but I thought it turned out pretty good for what I had to work with. Hope it goes well! :)

Zombie Self-Portrait Final!

2009-04-19T23:57:00.002-04:00

Done.

Zombie Linework

2009-04-19T14:49:00.005-04:00

I won the Grand Champion Contest for last month, so it was up to me to pick the new topic for this month. I chose Zombie Self-Portrait. Here is the preliminary line work.

Something a little different...

2009-04-02T16:06:00.004-04:00

Just a little experimentation in the form of a fun scribble. Besides, I had to get that Magneto sketch off of the top!;)
G

Magneto Sketch

2009-03-25T13:46:00.006-04:00

Here's a sketch I did last night for another Pencil Jack thingy. The deadline was yesterday, so I only had about an hour to work on it. Bumped it out fast cuz I wanted to participate. Could have been a lot better, but I actually really enjoy the whimsy and looseness of the colors. I like the vibrancy and intensity of the color against the stark background. Wish I would have put something up on the ceiling so that you could tell we are looking at him floating. Should have put a shadow down below too.
I still have no idea what's happening in this photo. There's supposed to be a flower in his hand, but for some reason, on the web version, it's really hard to see. Oh well!

ETSY STORE BACK UP!

2009-03-24T14:40:00.007-04:00

Good news: The Etsy store is back up and running. I am hoping to have some new prints coming down the pipe soon so stay tuned. Gonna be adding some origianl art as well, from small watercolor sketches all the way to big ole', fully rendered paintings! Right now all that is available is the Yeti vs. Robot print (Only 6 remaining!) but be sure to check back for more later.

Up next: I am probably gonna make some prints of the "50 Years" painting! The print process is great so I am really excited to see how this one turns out! It's a favorite of mine.

Click below to be directed to the store!!

Giant Robot Action!

2009-03-20T17:03:00.006-04:00

This is my submission for a PencilJack competition. I didn't have the time to refine the pencils more so I decided to color it and throw a lot of photoshop trickery in there.
g

Weird Wolverine Pose...

2009-03-17T16:23:00.003-04:00

...that morphed into something else entirely. In my mind, this pose looked way cooler.
g

Ultimate Fantastic Four Submissions

2009-03-05T16:20:00.005-05:00

Here are my Ultimate Fantastic Four pages that I submitted in New York. The sequence was taken from Ultimate Fantastic Four #21 by Mark Millar. The cover image was drawn digitally and the rest are pencil. Looking back on them I see tons of mistakes. I think I was in too much of a rush.
Enjoy.
g

PS_As always, comments and critiques are welcome.

Continued in next post...

The Rest of My Submissions

2009-03-05T16:08:00.005-05:00

...cont'd.

If you want to see some more of my submissions, the Guy Garner pages are two posts down. They were all presented in a nice package that I made up. I should take a pic of the one leftover, just so you guys can see my presentation.
g

50 Years

2009-02-24T17:00:00.007-05:00

This is a promo piece I made for work. I don't think they are gonna go with it... All digital. The full size version looks pretty good, but it's too big. It's kind of a shame when something gets shrunk down so much it loses a lot of detail.

Guy Gardner Submissions

2009-02-17T09:34:00.007-05:00

Here is the first set of pencil submissions I put out there. It is an action sequence for a story called "Collateral Damage" by Chuck Dixon. I believe is was Guy Gardner #15. After looking back on them, these pages have their problems, but, they say all artists have 1000 bad pages in them before they get good, so I need to start cracking.

Hope you like them
g

Draw Night

2009-02-12T16:44:00.005-05:00

Had a great draw night last night. Did some Dare Devil sketches. We decided that a lot of artists like drawing Dare Devil because he is basically a naked guy with horns. Easy costume. Fun though.
g

Ouch. It hurts.

2009-02-09T11:49:00.006-05:00

Hi All,
Got back from the New York Comic Con late last night. Had a great time there, but unfortunately, things didn't quite work out the way that I had wanted them to.
That's okay though. Still gonna keep trying, still gonna keep honing the skills and making them sharp... sharp like Wolverine's nose!

Here's a sketch of Wolverine's nose.
g

I will be posting the pages I brought to NYCC in the following days and then starting on new ones! Stay tuned!

2009!

2009-01-07T18:18:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! I know I have been away for a while, but I have been super busy. I have some major plans in the works and I can't wait to share them with all of you. Let's just say I have been very busy with my pencils!

God bless and stay tuned!

Guy

Election Day!

2008-11-04T13:50:00.006-05:00

I know who I'm voting for:

It's a 3D World

2008-09-24T23:52:00.014-04:00

So I haven't been able to post anything in a while. Work has been flipped upside down. The studio is trying to find work in new realms, so they are forcing us to learn 3D. It's pretty cool but they want samples fast and it is a ton of pressure to learn this stuff and actually make something cool. Especially with all of the wedding obligations, personal obligations, freelance, etc. It is definitely a bit hectic for me right now. It has certainly cut out a HUGE chunk of my drawing time. I haven't drawn anything lately which makes me extremely sad.... Hell, Colossus Club is even hurting right now. Everyone is being worked to death!!!! Gaahhhh!

Oh well. Here are a couple images from a model I rendered out. Trying to just figure out how to do this stuff. Pretty fast and cool results. Not going for anything photographic... just trying to sell a mood or style. I think the one at night down below is my fave of the two shown.

Mayg meh fyel gyed!!!

2008-08-31T22:55:00.015-04:00

Check out what Erin got me for my birthday. It's no wonder I would ask this girl to marry me, right??? Most guys would kill for a girl like her. I totally lucked out!

Check out more pics here. Ohw Shhyyiiettt!!

More mindless rambles on paper...

2008-08-07T14:49:00.005-04:00

Here's another example of me stalling. It's another page of face sketches. One of these is a straight up copy of a face that Rafa Sandoval has done in his Hercules book. I think he is the man, so I find it's helpful to learn by copying. Try to pick out which one is the copy. (It's actually quite easy.)

In the meantime, I have been stalling, for quite some time, on starting these comic book pages that I NEED to do. I think I am just scared. I don't know what the block is, but I need to get going. I promise I will get to them quickly. I need to, for my future.

Sketch of the Day!

2008-07-08T18:16:00.004-04:00

Heads everywhere! Just some head studies that I did today.

Gearing up

2008-07-03T16:24:00.007-04:00

So I am gearing up to start my first pages. I got a Fantastic Four script and have thumbed out all of the pages. My next step is to just do it. I started a few sketches, just to get the feel of how to draw these characters. Here's one of them. I did it during Sons of Hal last night.
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Etsy

2008-07-01T00:22:00.003-04:00

I made a print that you can now purchase on Etsy. Click below!

Wow. Just... wow

2008-06-17T16:37:00.001-04:00

Speechless... Amazing.

Old Dirty Bastard, A.K.A. Dirt McGirt, Ason Unique, The Bebop Specialist, Big Baby Jesus, Sweet Baby Jesus, Dirt Dog, Osirus...

2008-06-10T13:37:00.004-04:00

...The Man of All Rainbows, Prince Delight, The Professor Rain Man, Super Bastard, Peanut the Kidnapper, RJ Tha Mad Specialist, Freeloading Rusty, Joe Bananas, and Hasaan.

What can I say? he's a personal hero of mine and I wanted to do something a bit different. Hope ya like it.

Sequential Question

2008-06-09T10:50:00.006-04:00

Ok, I was playing around with this sequence here on Friday, and originally I had Spiderman's head going from right to left in the inset, even though the rest of the image is moving from left to right. I know that this is supposed to be a cardinal rule that I shouldn't break, but I just feel that there is more tension and action with the inset going from right to left. I think it has to do with the feeling that I wanted him to be almost "smashing into a wall" when he gets hit and I feel that this inset, combined with the Spidey on the left, create an ensuing impact-type of tension. However, I do know that this kind of kills the flow from left to right. I know it's small potatoes, but what do you guys think?

I don't know. Maybe I should just stick to the rules.

Thanks,

My Generic Cover

2008-05-30T20:16:00.008-04:00

This is the first sketch of an actual cover-type image I've done. It's all generic characters on a generic team, in a generic pose, but I don't care about all of that. It was fun to do. I know that it's nowhere near the level of a finished pencil in the comics industry, but I seriously busted this thing out QUICK today. It went real fast. I'm kinda proud of myself in some weird way. I feel like my wrist is finally starting to loosen up a bit.

Anyways, let me know...
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p.s. My women still need some major work. They just aren't up to par yet.

p.s.s. The Pistons just lost to the Celtics and they will not be going to the finals. I am so bummed out right now. Damn Teyshaun!

Last Night's Sketches

2008-05-28T13:55:00.007-04:00

Someone actually asked me to post these. These were done last night around 2AM. I just needed to draw. Couldn't help it. The last one was done today at work. Kind of like a warmup page.

WOW. I am a busy person.

2008-05-22T11:34:00.025-04:00

Been a looooong time since I've posted. I have been working at a ridiculous level lately. We were extremely slow for about 3 months at work and then it all came crashing down upon us 2 Tuesday's ago. Ever since then I have been working literally 18 hours every day. It is craziness.

It's not even so much the hours that is the bad part, it's the frantic pace at which we have had to work. It really doesn't come as a surprise to me, as everything in the commercial world is a rush, but this last couple of weeks has been insane.

On a side note, during this frantic 2 weeks, things slowed down for a few hours on sunday so I had a small window of time to drop by the Motor City Comic Con. The actual con was kinda lame, but I got to meet and have a real nice discussion with artist David Finch. He was super cool and extremely nice and helpful. Meeting him was a breath of fresh air during the shitstorm that was coming down all around me at work. It was awesome! He is an amazing artist.

Anyways, I just wrapped up my last board for this project (knock on wood) and I am completely tired. I need sleep. Since I can't show anything cool or recent, here's some old stuff! Weeeee!

I did the wizard art for Alltel a while back. It's been in a ton of commercials and they even took the wizard I designed and turned him into a live action character in the spots. That's kinda cool I guess. I feel bad for the poor chap who has to wear that getup! I did it in Photoshop and Painter and they just added it to the van in post.

Here is a cover I did for Detroiter magazine. I designed the three characters and rendered them a la Cheeks. Thanks Cheeks.

Sam Guthrie

2008-04-22T15:52:00.006-04:00

Since I can never seem to get a piece of work finalized, here's another sketch I just did. I'm bored.... oh yeah, I guess Nightcrawler is in here too.

I'm Brian Fellow!

2008-04-18T16:50:00.006-04:00

Haven't posted in a while... been super busy.

Here are some faces that I painted at work. They wanted to have *"comp style" faces that were painted *"loose" and *"fun" but still looked convincing. It was fun trying to put as much color as I could get away with in these pieces; and it's ALWAYS fun when you get to paint Tracy Morgan and Snoop. I love Tracy Morgan. He kills me.

Each one was cool to do. I got the linework from someone else at work. I think it was traced. The painting is real though.

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*These are all words that art directors and art reps say to me that make me sick.

Young and sassy GL!

2008-03-05T11:22:00.007-05:00

Here's a sketch I did the other day at work. He's more of a metrosexual GL with a bad attitude. Basically just a study in musculature. I really wanted to render it out, color it and THEN post it, but things have been busy and I haven't been able to do it... so here it is, in all it's rawness. Maybe in the next few days (or weeks) I can post a finished version for you guys (all three of you.)

Oh, and I'll add the most crucial part: the effing ring!

luvya

Today's Warmup Sketch

2008-02-21T16:52:00.008-05:00

Quick face sketch. It's nice to go back to the roots and just do a nice face. This isn't too great of an example, but I was just warming up. This expression was of some dude taken from that book, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. I just got it and haven't really used it yet, but I imagine it's kinda handy to have around. Enjoy.

Quick Martian Manhunter sketch

2008-02-19T12:25:00.008-05:00

Is this even good? I have no idea... but I really dig the ear! Besides, Martian Manhunter ruuuuuuules!!! I wonder if it's just his weird shaped head that's bugging me. I think it may look cooler if he had a normal head. Hmmmm........ try to imagine....

Iron Man sketch

2008-02-18T17:13:00.007-05:00

Here's a real quick Iron Man sketch. Not really sure what's going on here; just kinda bored. Turns out that I forgot to finish the feet. Oops, kinda bored AND kinda lazy.

Brandon's Promised Painting Teaser

2008-02-12T15:02:00.004-05:00

Here is the pencils for a painting I REALLY need to finish. See, a few years ago I spotted a painting that my good friend Brandon Garrison did. It was a painting of a little wrestler type character that I instantly had to have. Brandon gave it to me on the guidelines that I would have to do a masked wrestler dude for him... this negotiation went down in like, August '07.

Now, you know my M.O.: "Things have been too busy and I just haven't gotten around to it yet."

I'll start it soon Brandon.

Sons of Hal!

2008-02-08T00:12:00.001-05:00

My friend and I have recently become enthralled in the world of comic books once again. It all spawned from our need to draw. Both of us are too cheap to pay for figure classes to keep fresh, so we started making trips to Xhedos in Ferndale so that we could draw in there at night. One night four of us were up there and I started doing a drawing of Colossus from the X-men. They noticed what I was working on and then we got into this discussion about Colossus and how utterly awesome he is. What a sweet character, and he's so fun to draw. Well, needless to say, everyone drew their own Colossus that night and Colossus Club was born. Our plan was to meet up and just draw a bunch of Colossus' all the time. Yeah, I know. It's nerdy and stupid, but guess what?... It was frickin' hilarious.

Needless to say, this went on for some time. Xhedos ended up closing and we moved diggs to the Borders on Woodward. They have a giant graphic novel section damn it! Well, with all of these books around us, ZERO drawing was getting done. We were just looking at the graphic novels every time we went up there. This lead to a great discovery though; by us always looking at the books, we stumbled upon a character that we all had a greater common love for than any other character... even Colossus. THE GREEN LANTERN! He's such a bad mother fucker! We are obsessed with all of them. I went as Guy Gardner for HAL-loween, although now I am telling everyone I went as Hal Jordan. We are obsessed. This whole Sinestro Corps War didn't help either. It was so cool. I may have subconsciously chosen the color palette for this blog based on the Green Lantern now that I think about it... yep, I did.

Anyways, we realized that Colossus had been eclipsed and that a new name for our drawing club was in order. We started thinking of names right away. It had to be something funny, yet so nerdy that no ordinary person would know what we were talking about. Here are just a few ideas:

The Order of Oa

Guy's Gardners

Sons of Hal

There were a few others but they have all escaped me now. Sons of Hal is my favorite. I think it is frickin' hilarious!!! I chuckle every time I think of it! I have no idea why I told you all this story...

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Here's the Deal

2008-02-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I usually can't put up the stuff I do at work because it is through agencies, etc. so we don't own the art. It's all private. You wouldn't want to see it anyways. Think way too tight car art and storyboards. That's basically it.

However, when I do some cool editorial stuff or anything that is cool enough and I am allowed to show, I will.

I think most of the stuff that I end up posting will be sketches of things I do in my spare time here at work or otherwise. Unfortunately, I haven't done a finished piece of work in quite some time. The way things work in my field, you are never given the time to REALLY WORK on anything. The client wants it way too quickly and all it needs to do is read quickly and get the point across, which is cool, I understand. I just miss digging in and creating a really great piece.

Anyways, here are some sketches I did the other day at work. I had just finished reading 52 so I was on a major Booster Gold kick. Joe Bennet effing rules by the way! Enjoy.

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I Did It! A Brief Summary and Recap Part 2

2008-02-06T22:30:00.000-05:00

We are engaged. I asked Erin to marry me on the 27th of January. It was very gushy and special. I think I saw snot. Not sure though.

Anyways, she said yes and now I am currently in the moving process. Almost everything is in her place but there are still a few loose ends I need to tie up. Being someone who went to art school and works in the field, let me tell you: I have a ton of art shit. It has been such a pain in the ass to move! Luckily I am almost done. Pretty much everything is gone from Brian's except for some paintings and a few miscellaneous artifacts.

The next step is to get everything organized. Between the two of us, we have a great deal of household items. I can't wait until we are all settled in.

Now that a wedding is in our future, things have gone from hectic to astronomical frenzy around here. This is such a happy time for the both of us but also an extremely stressful one. Poor Erin is loosing her mind trying to find a venue. I've never bore witness to anything like this before.

I am such a lucky person to have her in my life. I'll let ya know if she survives the wedding planning!

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A Brief Summary and Recap Part 1

2008-02-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, I have been building a giant built-in cabinet in the basement of the condo. It's about 98% done. I only need to put up the trim that will cover the small gap between the studs and the cabinet. I've already got the shelf loaded up. It's okay.

This all came about because I became infatuated with home repair and woodworking sometime around November of 2007. I have no explanation for where this obsession came from, but when it arrived it hit hard. I soon set my sights on obtaining every piece of obscure toolery I could find; whether I needed it or not. Since then, I have obtained a stud finder, a shop vac, saw horses, a router with 1'2" shank (not the paltry 1/4" shank), a complete 18 piece router bit set, a circular saw, a new 18v drill, a saber saw, a reciprocating saw, a really nice Dremel tool with a huge set of accessories, a compressor complete with blower and brad nailer, tons of clamps, a pry bar, and the mother of them all; an awesome 12' compound mitre saw! Now all I need is a table saw. No wonder I am broke.

Now that I had all of the tools, I needed to build something. That's where the idea for the cabinet came into play. The previous owner had built a nasty piece of wooden architecture that was in the spot where my new creation would be. It had to be done. It was all perfect in my head, however; things quickly changed.

I realized that in order to start building something of this magnitude, one has to actually have a game plan and a certain skill set. Well, I had neither and I quickly realized that making building plans sucks, so I figured I wouldn't do it... HUGE mistake. I set about the task like I would a painting. I just kind of started it and let the progress and the process dictate where I would go next. When it was finished it was a piece of shit. It took waaaay too long and was way to expensive. I thought I would be saving us money by building rather than going out and buying. Not the case. Due to my lack of preparation, I made countless trips back and forth to Home Depot. The idea of the cabinet was so simple, however, it was way more complicated and costly than I had ever anticipated.

Keep in mind, all of this construction was going on during weekend intervals. I had to return back to Oak Park during the week so that I could work. Anyways, being the perfectionist that I am, during my five days away from the cabinet I obsessed over what I had done wrong and what I could do to fix it. Erin told me not to mess with it because it was taking way too much time and effort. I said okay. I lied.

The next saturday I woke up super early and went to town in the basement without her knowing. I tore the entire thing apart and rebuilt it all from the ground up using proper techniques and planning. I also remembered to use wood glue this time! Needless to say, the effort was worth it. The final product was so much better than what it would have been if I hadn't have redone it. I think there might be a lesson on here somewhere. Not sure.

Like I said before, the cabinet is okay. It could have been done way better, but I feel that it's pretty damn good for my first project ever! I hate to say it, but I'm actually kinda proud of it. it was a great learning experience. The next project I do is going to turn out so much nicer and now I actually have a game plan for how to do it.

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Dude, I made it!

2008-02-06T12:58:00.000-05:00

Whew! It has been a struggle just to put up a simple blog, but it's on now.

Hopefully with this blog I can challenge myself to keep producing and to let people in on what I am up to. I'm gonna write about ridiculous things and probably rant a bit, if you can put up with it. I hope so. Life is going at 1,000 MPH right now for me, so don't judge me if I'm a bit lax on the postings. I am also hoping to meet some more kick-ass artists out there. ( I hate it when people say "kick-ass artist") There's nothing like a healthy dose of inspiration! This is the beginning...