A few months ago I participated in the second annual 30 Characters Challenge. We create 30 Characters in 30 days. It’s a very fun challenge. I had planned on penciling and inking all my character designs. As the months went by I only inked 3 designs. So I’ve decided to go back periodically to these character designs and ink them.
Here’s Penelope Chamber Characters Inks! I used a 102 nib pen with Black India ink. I’ve been enjoying inking with nib pens. I still need a lot of practice inking, but I feel like the nib pen is right for me. So far I don’t have much of a history for this character. Just that she’s some sort of adventurer.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
Here is the super cool sketch card of Captain Marvel by Chris Foreman. My girlfriend bought me this commission sketch card. Foreman created it on the spot.
It was really awesome to see him create this piece. He started with a quick sketch, then inked it, then colored it, added some shadows and highlights, then inked it again. I was totally blown away!
Thanks to my super cool girlfriend for this super awesome gift.
– SHAZAM!
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
This October (The 2nd & 3rd) I participated for the 3rd time in 24-Hour Comics Day! The idea is to come up with a 24-page comic with no preconceived ideas when coming to the table! Since I’ve completed the challenge before, I had a good idea of how tough it could be. Ka-Blam! I was able to finish again minutes before the deadline of 24 hours. It was a fun struggle and I have a great feeling of accomplishment for finishing it.
Here’s my comic entitled “Survival”. The whole comic was penciled, inked, and lettered by me in 23 hours and 45 minutes. Toward the end, I did a few double pages and my art isn’t as tight as it was in the beginning. But I think I did pretty well. I even have two stories going on from two different characters intertwined together.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
I’ve recently started to enjoy inking with pen and ink. In the past, I’ve focused on inking digitally using either Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. But I decided to tackle inking in the physical world. I have found inking with pen and bush to be more satisfying to me personally. I still believe that digital inking is a great technique. But for the time being, I will try to sharpen my skills in more traditional ways. My tools of choice have been a 102 nib pen and a size 4 sable brush.
I’ve been inking my own work, and that has been a great experience. I’ve decided to try inking other comic artists’ work too. My hope is that this will help me learn new creative approaches to comic art. I looked all over for a penciled piece I’d like to ink, then I found this super awesome piece of Thor vs. Taskmaster by comic book artist Mahmud Asrar. It comes from Avengers: The Initiative #32 Page 4. I found this on Mahmud’s DeviantArt page. I had fun inking these pencils. I will definitely be inking more comic pages in the future. – Shazam!
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
Noran Grimm grew up in a world ruled by logic, strategy, and calculation. The planet Dethathoun was one of the first planets to be conquered by the Cyber Lords after their own “Great War”. For generations, the Dethathouns were shaped by the Cyber Lords to become their field generals. Their inherent skills in problem-solving and tactical thinking made them the perfect soldiers and leaders
Noran’s family was among the most decorated of these Generals. Leading armies of Foot Soldiers in campaigns to conquer worlds across the galaxies. Norans father Jurvan Grimm lead the campaign that conquered the entire Acarien System. Making him the first and only Grand General of the Cyber Lord Army. Noran rose through the ranks of the military very quickly, becoming the youngest Dethathoun to become a Field General. His strategies in warfare were unmatched by his piers. Noran armies conquered or devastated hundreds of planets in the name of the Cyber Lords.
The Cyber Lords’ greed for power once again pitted them against each other and began an interstellar war. They fight for solar system territories. Like the War that destroyed their home world, they were now destroying the cosmos. As a result of the interstellar war, their resources were being depleted too quickly. Noran Grimm was sent to a remote planet named Earth with a battalion of Foot Soldiers to secure the planet’s rich resources. The last communique received from Grimm was a warning that the planet had defenders. With the war devastating the Cyber Lords armies no attempt has been made to find General Grimm.
30 Characters Challenge Creative Notes: For this drawing, I was trying to make the character of General Grimm look stern. Like the commanding officer, he is. A man of tactician thinking. I think I was successful in the rendering. I’ve been starting off this series of drawing with blue lines and then tightening the pencils with a normal black lead. I’m enjoying the process, but feel like my drawing is coming out a little too stiff. I do feel like my inking is improving with every new drawing.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
30 Characters Challenge 2010 – #2 Zarruk Xeon Last Survivor of Tanigor
Zarruk Xeon is the last survivor of the planet Tanigor. A world much like the earth in size and population. Tamigor was protected by a group of superheroes. Zarruk was among the most recognized and respected among them.
The planet was devastated by a Cyber Lord and his army of Foot Soldiers. Looking to expand his growing interstellar empire, this Cyber Lord invaded Tamigor. But this world was heavily populated with super beings who fought back. The battle rocked the entire planet. With heavy casualties on both sides. The planet’s heroes couldn’t withstand the Foot Soldier’s larger numbers, up to billions. The world was eventually completely destroyed, with all life extinguished.
All life except Zarruk Xeon. It wasn’t his super strength, durability, or flight that saved him. It was his ability to absorb energies. The energy staff of the Foot Soldiers actually made him stronger. But not strong enough to save his world, his wife, or his children. Zarruk Xeon is now stranded on a dead planet. Searching through the rubble for a way off it. His only driving force is to avenge all he has lost at the hands of the Cyber Lords.
30 Characters Challenge Creative Notes: Like my 1st 30 Character drawing of Foot Soldier of the Cyber Lords, I tried to use a new technique of starting my drawing with blue pencils. I then refined the drawing with normal pencils. This is the second time I tried this, I feel like the image came out a little too stiff. This is probably a result of me making most of the initial blue lines very tight instead of loose as I did in the last attempt. I am happy with my inking of this character design. I’ve been using a 102-nib pen when inking. It’s been a fun learning process.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
I started creating this piece for a silent auction being held at a Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. Here are the finished inks. I decided not to enter it but continued to finish it. The original drawing was on a 24″x19″ 2 ply Bristol board paper. The next step was inking it. I’ve seen a lot of great comic artists use a grey wash in their inkings, so I wanted to try that. I also added some movement lines in the background of the main panel. I used a 102-nib pen and a brush to ink it. In the past I’ve focused on digital inking, but lately, I’ve been enjoying inking by hand. Once I finished inking this piece titled: Renegade. I framed it and hung it on my wall. I’m proud that this piece and I had a lot of fun working on it.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
Atomic Blast – Character Design for The REPLICANTS Project
The idea of Atomic Blast came from a challenge to create a superhero team based on an existing superhero team. The REPLICANTS Project was created by Dean Rivet. Atomic Blast was inspired by Sunfire of the X-Men.
Susan Rosen’s grandfather Jason Rosen worked on Trinity, the first atomic bomb nuclear weapons test in New Mexico. While working on the test site, Jason was exposed to high radiation levels. Due to a genetic anomaly, he was able to absorb the deadly energies. He found he could control this energy in the form of a green flame. He became a crime fighter known as the Green Flame.
As a child, Susan began to manifest the same power as her grandfather. She keeps it a secret not knowing she inherited the power from him. Susan’s parents died in a car accident when she was 17, leaving Jason as her only living relative. With no one else to take care of Susan, she moved in with him. She discovered he had the same powers as she did. Jason trained Susan in the control of her powers. She decided to follow in his footsteps and become a crime fighter. With his help, she has taken the name Atomic Blast and uses her powers to fight evil.
Here are the different steps I took when creating this character design. First I did my pencil drawing, I use a .5 HB Mechanical pencil. I then scanned and turned the pencils into blue lines. I went ahead and printed the blue lines and inked them. I used a nib pen 102. I then colored it in photoshop. I had fun with this illustration. I tried a few different techniques in the inking and coloring. I am very pleased with the results!
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
Lionsoul – Character Design for The REPLICANTS Project
The Character Design idea of Lionsoul came from a challenge to create a superhero team based on an existing team. The REPLICANTS Project was created by Dean Rivet. Lionsoul is inspired by Thunderbird of the X-Men. Mikhail Selimovict aka Lionsoul is a survivor of the Bosnian Genocide during the 1990s. During the Srebrenica massacre, Mikhail’s family was separated. Mikhail with his father and younger brother Jacob were taken to be executed. It was at this moment that his powers manifested. He found that he had accelerated senses, speed, and strength. He was able to save himself and his brother by fighting off the Bosnian Serb forces. Although they were able to survive, Mikhail and Jacob were now alone in the world. They have spent their time looking for their mother and sisters. Mikhail has taken the name Lionsoul and helps people when they are in need with his powers.
Here are the different steps I used when drawing the character design for Lionsoul. I first did the pencils. I didn’t want his look to be too superhero. He’s more of a guy who fights when he needs to, he doesn’t want to stand out in a crowd. Next, I scanned my pencils and tuned them into blue lines in photoshop. I then printed them out and inked them. I do this so I can keep my original pencils. I then color those inks in photoshop. I’m pleased with his look. I had fun designing his lion tattoo too.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
Aurora Light – Character Design for The REPLICANTS Project
The idea of Aurora Light came from a challenge to create a superhero team based on an existing team. The REPLICANTS Project was created by Dean Rivet. The inspiration for Aurora Light came from Wonder Woman. What I did was look at what makes Wonder Woman a cool character. She has a rich history centered around Greek mythology. She’s an amazon warrior for peace. She’s also in this world, but not of this world.
I took these core elements in the creation of Aurora Light and Sylvia Knightley. She is from another world, a world of monsters and angels. but she is on earth as a protector of humanity. Instead of looking at mythology, I centered her world around folklore. She is Lilith’s daughter, also known as Adam’s first wife. Like an amazon, Sylvia comes from a world of warrior women. She chooses to protect humanity from the dark evils that wish to harm it.
Art Process: Here are the different steps I took to create my character design illustration of Aurora Light. First I penciled out the original drawing. I used a .05 HB mechanical pencil. Then I scanned the pencils and turned them into blue lines in photoshop. I printed the blue line version on card stock paper. I used a nib pen and a Kohinoor Rapidograph Technical Pen .50mm to ink it. I did most of the inking with the nib pen though. Once I finished the inking I then scanned it again and sharpened the contrast in Adobe Photoshop. Then I created flats in photoshop and used them to help in digitally coloring the illustration. It was a fun challenge.
Character Biography: Before Aurora Light became the heroine of humanity she was taught to despise the children of Eve. Aurora Light’s given name is Sylvia, the warrior daughter of Lilith. Sylvia’s mother Lilith was Adam’s first wife before Eve. Lilith declared that she was Adam’s equal and would not be his subordinate. She flew away from the garden of Eden to find her own destiny in the world. But God sent three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof to take her back. When she refused they declared that she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day. Lilith’s sons were creatures of darkness and her daughters were born of perfect beauty. Lilith allowed her sons to die and raised her daughters as cunning warriors. Teaching them that the world was rightfully theirs and not the children of Eves’
Through the many centuries, Lilith slowly created an army of her daughters that she planned to take back the world. The strongest of these daughters was Sylvia. Sylvia was a natural warrior. Besting her sisters in training battles and tactical exercises. She was her mother’s most devoted follower, believing that mankind needed to be eliminated. These feelings changed though when she encountered Sansenoy, one of the angels initially charged with taking her mother back to Eden. On one of Sylvia’s daily running exercises, she discovers Sansenoy, and she is taken aback by his angelic beauty. Sansenoy and Sylvia began a secret romantic relationship. Meeting every day during her runs. Sansenoy had a true love for humanity and shows Sylvia the great potential and wonders that mankind could achieve. She slowly sees that humanity is not the great evil her mother has taught her. She starts seeing them as brothers and sisters. She keeps her new insights private for fear of her mother’s wraith.
Her relationship is interrupted when Sansenoy has to leave to prepare for a great battle. She soon learns that the great battle is with her mother and sisters. Lilith was mounting an attack on humanity. Sylvia is given the lead of the army, but she is torn between her loyalty to family and her new love for humanity. On the day of the battle, thousands of her brothers and sisters fight as many angels. Both sides take heavy losses, but Lilith’s army begins to take ground and the battle looks to be swaying in her favor. It’s at this moment Sylvia sees Sansenoy battling her sister Rachael. Rachael overpowers Sansenoy and Sylvia sees him take his last breath. Sylvia decides at that moment she cannot allow her lover to die in vain. She turns on her sisters and fights with the angels to stop her mother’s dark army. The surprise is enough to turn the tide and give the angel’s army the battle.
Sylvia leaves to earth and swearers to protect humanity from all evils, especially her mother. She moves to San Diego as Sylvia Knightley and takes the name Aurora Light when she fights evil. She choose the name Aurora Light in remembrance of the northern lights, where she and Sansenoy would spend time together.
This blog post was originally published on my former website, Comic Book Graphic Design and has now been migrated here to RSC Arts, Artist Blog.
