Monday, September 24, 2012

stronger

sung by kanye west


 this is going to be the image on the signature of my scoundrel art account. i think it's a good sample of recent sets i've worked on.
i've spent a good deal of the work day today posting up stuff online to make my online presence stronger. i've posted up an Ebay listing for commissioned art by me as well as listings for blank AP cards from the DC New 52 set and blank AP cards from the Walking Dead set. now our Artist Proof cards are just stacking up like crazy from all the sets that we worked on. neither me nor the hubby are really doing anything to move them so i'm trying to be a bit more proactive on those. that's why i'm trying to get onto scoundrel. for those who may not know, scoundrel is an art community mostly (if not completely) devoted to sketch card collectors and artists. (my account name on there is Peng-Peng, of course.) i hope to move some of these cards outta here. its partially the reason i've decided to stop drawing these. oftentimes a company would offer these artist proof cards as compensation for the work, usually along with a small card rate. but we've just amassed so much and i'm really not that proactive in selling them. and honestly, some of them are so old i don't think anyone would really want them at this point. i think i'm going to start bringing them to cons and drawing on them for like $5, just to get rid of em. =)

Saturday, September 22, 2012

i keep forgettin'

sung by michael mcdonald (and yes, this song leads to "Regulate" on my playlist =P)


just thought i'd share my lady doodles from yesterday and today. i've decided to practice my lady drawlings. now i know what ur thinkin. if there's anything i need to practice, it's dude drawlings. but there is an abundance of lady photos on deviant and makes it much easier to use them as models. no worries, i will do dude sketches too. i'm just practicing anyway.
these are all poses from nude (or mostly nude) photos from photographers i watch on DA. so if the pose looks familiar, ur probably watching the same deviants. ;)

now i've been trying to come up with a new tattoo for my birthday for a few weeks now. i'm so ridiculously picky just on how i get my hair done and that always grows back. imagine my inability to make a decision on such a permanent piece on my person! this will be my 2nd tattoo ever, and the first to be visible to most people. i plan on putting this on my right forearm where i can always see it, especially when i'm drawing in hopes that it will inspire me each time i see it. i call it my mark of the artistic brotherhood. i swear every artist i meet, with the exception of my hubby, have a tattoo somewhere on their arm visible to the world. and though i really dislike conforming to preconceived notions or trends, i DO like being a part of stuff. kakaka i know, it's weird.
anyways, i have asked my BFF to embellish it and make it purdy and i know she can deliver. so once its finished and i get it tattooed on me for my birthday, i'll be sure to post it. (my birthday's on October 1st, in case u were wondering or thinkin of getting me a bday cupcake. ;P KEKEKE)



also, here's some shenanigans that was goin on on my art table a couple days ago. i meant to post it, but forgot. hubby got new ninja turtles toys and shredder's knees didn't bend for some ridiculous reason. so of course, he splits. =P and jean claude van damme immediately came to mind. long story short, this was the product of my minor procrastination that day.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

starstruck

sung by lady gaga (back when i used to like her songs)


i did some MAJOR venturing around on deviantart today. i've come to realize that if i even come close to staying active on that site, i need to devote at least half of my work day just navigating around. it used to be SO easy to spend hours on there when i had a regular day job sittin at a desk in human resources. i was able to respond to everyone's comments, fav others' deviations, and get lost in all the amazing things on there. now that i'm a full time artist, its unfortunate that i don't have that kind of time to devote to it anymore. which is crazy because now is the time to be inspired by great art around the world.
i'm really sorry to everyone that has continued to visit my DA page and leave comments with not even a thanks from me. know that i appreciate all of it, i just don't have the time to type it. still, i'm planning on being on there once a week and get around as much as i can. except, of course, the week of crunch time when these Fanboys vs Zombies are due. hasn't failed yet, the week its due me and theFranchize have our noses to the pages from the moment we wake till we go to bed with breaks in between to eat so we don't pass out. =P

the image above is my work in progress on the Harley Quinn i plan on having for New York Comic Con next month! i plan on making it like the Poison Ivy print that i have so that they match. i took a few liberties on her costume. i hate what they've done with her New 52 look but i wasn't really a huge fan of her jester headpiece either. so i borrowed this idea for the outfit from a photo i saw by one of my favorite DA photographers, Bommi. (picture below) i think it's still sexy and fun but with a little more elegance to it.
link to his deviation -> http://fav.me/d3ey68k

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

girl on fire

sung by alicia keys



[this new Alicia Keys song shoulda been THE Hunger Games song instead of the Taylor Swift song. too bad it wasn't made yet. =P]

spent a long time finishing up this commission but i hope its time well spent. this lovely lady by the name of Arielle asked me to draw her a female Boba Fett at Baltimore Con. luckily she gave me the option of working on it at home so i could spend more time on it. i've never been asked to do a female version of a star wars character so i needed some extra time. seein as how i don't really have extensive star wars knowledge (go ahead and gasp), i had to keep referencing images of boba fett.
thanks to google, apparently ladies have been dressin up as a female boba fett all over the place! i had no idea. so i had a jumping off point as far as her design. nobody ever had the large openings on the side of her legs though. that was just me embellishing. as usual, i used copic markers and my sepia copic multiliners on this piece. the white scratches are all gel pen. i wasn't really sure how to make her helmet and "armor" parts look like they're peeling so i used the gel pen for that. i hope it worked and it came across as wear and tear. if i made any technical mistakes on any parts of her gun or rocket pack or something, please don't hate me. i did what i could. =)

quick note: the scanner didn't really pick up the light aqua-ish clouds i made in the background or the blue highlights i put on her skin. but trust me, they're really there.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

if it isn't love

sung by (the old) new edition

from left: Domo, Flash, Joe, Jerry, me
i've finallyhad some time to breath. last weekend was Baltimore Comic Con and it was one of our most successful baltimore cons to date! when we got there to set up, we thought we had a crappy spot cuz we were what we thought was the back, facing the back. but then there was this other section of Artist Alley that apparently was like the land that time forgot. so i think i'm never going to complain about our spot ever again at baltimore. =)
at any rate, we were so busy and had SO much fun at the show. i never tire of saying that i've got some of THE best fans around. we were all pretty much full up on commissions for both days. theFranchize was signing at the BOOM! Studios booth. it was all around fun. and we even had a former ID Studio member finally come by! (we miss u, joe!)
but as soon as we got home, we had to get straight into finishing up issue #7 of Fanboys Vs Zombies and that's been taking up all the time we've had this week. haven't even had time to go grocery shopping. =( lunch has consisted of cream of wheat. and dinner has been this slab of salmon that we've been making last all week long.

here are the commissions i did that weekend. it may not look like a lot, but i draw pretty slowly (though i've gotten faster from even just a year ago). this was a 2-day show and i got in as many as i could. the Elektra was my favorite of the weekend. if i ever figure out how to clean up this photo, i'll be posting it on my deviant account. i used copic markers and my sepia copic multiliners on all of these.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

baltimore con!

 

these are just some sketches i'm working on for a personal piece. i don't know when i'll be able to finish it, but i was really feelin like drawing some Tangled piece since i've discovered the soundtrack on my spotify. same idea, different takes. but i think i'll be going with the boat.

anyways, just thought u'd like to know - theFranchize, Flash, Domo, and I will be representing ID Comics Studios in B-more this weekend!

SEPT. 8 - 9, 2012
ARTIST ALLEY TABLES A132 & A133!!

come on by and say HEY! we always have fun doing this show and since it's our hometown show, we try not to miss it ever. in addition to having our two tables, theFranchize will also be signing Fanboys Vs Zombies books at the BOOM! Studios booth each day for a couple of hours! we'll have NEW prints at the table along with some classic ones, cards, and books such as Fanboys Vs Zombies and Iron Muslim (both published by BOOM! Studios). and of course, we're doing commissions all weekend long! our commissions are usually cheaper at shows because we're only able to spend a limited amount of time on them. so that's a good time to get some original artwork from us. =) i just hope my busted finger is healed by then. drawing/writing/typing with it is kinda awkward.
i'll most likely be unable to post again until after the show. when i do, i'll be posting pics from the weekend.

see u there!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

one step closer

sung by linkin park



finally finished my Storm! just in time for Baltimore Comic Con this weekend too. (which, btw, how did that happen?! i'm still in august.) the lightning took a couple of tries to get it to look the way i wanted it to. i don't think i've ever really made lightning so i was teaching myself as i went along.
this has an absurd number of layers. heck the lightning itself is like 4 or 5 layers - some blurred, some with vivid light blending, some with color or linear dodge blending. similar situation happening with the clouds. i'm still working on how to make them look cooler.
unfortunately i won't have any more artbooks for the convention this weekend. i've sold out of the ones i had. however, i am planning to have a brand new one by NYCC, time permitting. if not a book, maybe a calendar. who knows. i'm still trying to decide. but u know what i will definitely have there? this variant Storm!


i'm saving it for NYCC cuz why not. the white outfit is based on my new Storm statue made by Kotobukiya from their Bishoujo line. i picked it up at San Diego this year and i really dig her white outfit. to me, her black outfit makes her an X-man, but the white one makes her a god! =)

Monday, September 3, 2012

holding out for a hero

sung by frou frou


i'm facing a dilemma. i made this magenta version of my Krypto portrait earlier today and since then i haven't been able to pick which one i like better to turn into a large canvas print. see, this magenta version is what i originally wanted to do with this. but i was afraid that the hubby wouldn't be too keen to have a big pink piece of artwork on the wall. but as any supportive hubby would do, he told me if its my art, he doesn't care if its pink as long as i like it. =)
so i like this version cuz i really am starting to be drawn to the magenta/pink color (hence my color scheme on this blog). but i like the original one too cuz it's more comic genre appropriate. i'm torn. what to do...

Sunday, September 2, 2012

i see the light

sung by mandy moore and zachary levi


even though i started out the day on a low note, i managed to bounce back and finish something i've been wanting to do for a while now! it's a portrait of my Krypto dog that i wanted to do!
i was bummed as the day started. got my finger accidentally bit by my dad's dog while i was giving him treats this morning. and if there's one thing u should know about me, i get very queasy at the sight of blood, especially my own. but thanks to my hubby and my puppies, i got up (eventually) and did this portrait that i couldn't find the time to do before. and even though i'm typing slower now with my busted pointer finger, seeing the final product has salvaged the day. =)
did this portrait on Illustrator. why red, u ask? cuz it's my favorite color. plus i wanted to do something fun and unique where most other dog portraits fail to do for me. and since she's named after Superman's dog (thanx to theFranchize), i wanted to keep it red, blue and yellow.
though in the comic book world it doesn't make sense for her to be "saying" her own name, i rather like it.
PLUS i finally learned how to make these halftones, thanks to the power of the internet! just google "how to make a halftone in illustrator" and ur golden!

now i just gotta wait for a good Groupon or Living Social deal for large canvas prints again and i'm turning this into a big one like my other dog's portrait! (except no 4-color Warhol thingy.)

below is the picture i used to make it. it's my favorite picture of her cuz she's so happy in it! (yes she has on a shirt - don't judge me!)