The Avengers

Here's my latest painting; the Avengers in their most current costumes. I chose to do these versions of the chararcters simply to show that I can stay current. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a comic purest and my favorite versions of superheroes are always their classic, most recognizable costumes. However, this is how they look now and in all honesty, I really like these updates of the heroes. They appear much more practicle and realistic. Especially Iron Man and Thor, in the sense that Iron Man's armor looks like it could bend and allow movement as well as protect and Thor looks more like a Norse god than somebody in bright bue tights.
I started by taking pictures of myself in each of their poses. I also took pictures of Marvel Select action figures of these characters in the same poses. Using these photos, I drew out each character, then took those drawings and projected them onto the plastic board and from there I painted them. I left Iron Man for last because I knew he'd be the most fun. It was awesome to draw myself and then draw the armor over me. I was rushed to finish this one but I'm quite happy with the outcome!

My Current Project: Zacchaeus/the Rook

Here's a sketch of a character I'm designing for my friend and writer Matthew Rodriguez. This is Zacchaeus, the short guy from the Bible who climbed a tree to see Jesus. In the story he's become the sort of leader of a group of heroes in the very near future. For reasons I won't give away he's been around since the time of Jesus, has traveled the world, and has seen it develope into its current state. This is a sketch of what he will possibly look like; just a clothing test if you will. He will however usually wear the hood, have some sort of Native American bag around his waist, carry a staff, likely of African origin, and his weapon will usually be a khopesh, or sickle-sword.

A Tribute to Pulp: The Shadow

Here's a painting I did at the end of last year. This is the Shadow, the pulp fiction character from 1930's novels and 1940's radio show. I do have prints available for sale. I love these pulp characters. I truly believe that comics, or more specifically, superheroes, are the mythology of America. When most people think of mythology they think of Greek mythology. So okay, if superheroes are the Greek Olympian gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, and so on, all the big names we all know) then pulp characters are, as I see them, the Titans. The titans are less known by most people, but are still important. They were the parents of the Olympian gods. And like the way that the gods overthrew the Titans and came to dominate the world, so to have superheroes outgrown their predecessors to become dominate in the hearts and minds of the public.
But they owe a lot to their parents. They paved the way for superheroes. Their stories involved mystery, romance, science fiction, and magic, to name a few genres. Aspects of the Shadow were inspiration for the character of Batman. And another one of my favorite adventure heroes from this era, The Phantom, was the first to wear the now standard full-body spandex as well as the first to have the familiar "pupiless" eyes. So if you ever get a chance, look up some pulp characters. Don't let these characters fade away with time, but pay tribute to the Titans of American mythology.