INFERNICUS

My 2nd rendition of Lucia Infernicus from Glenn Danzig's Verotik. I tried to find as many references as possible for her from my own personal collection and from online pics. I realized that she makes an appearance in Satanika Tales (an issue I don't seem to have). A handful of different artists have taken a stab a drawing her and as much as I liked all of them, I stayed with the 3 artists who I think captured her best for what I wanted to do. Those artists are Simon Bisley, Joe Chiodo and Dan Brereton.

           

           Bisley

Chiodo

Brereton

I also added, The Inquisitor, who is also a Verotik character. This particular one below was painted by Simon Bisley.

The first few stages of my drawing began with the full figure of Lucia with her hands behind her back. There were other ideas but this is the one that seemed to flow better. Sorry guys, didn't take pics. The pics i did take were of her face in step by step form.....

Here is a very quick sketch of the basic shape of the head, eye, nose and lips. This is where I establish the basic idea (although the full figure had been drawn and finished already) so I wasn't too serious about proportions just yet. Everything is basically light and loose. Also, basic light, shadow and reflective light were added. Keep in mind, this was an old drawing sitting around in my pad for some time, so my approach was somewhat different back then. I added what I know now to the finished work.

Here i started shaping the form of the face a bit more. I softened up the shape of her chin, established the lighting on her nose as well as making it thinner, rounded her eye socket and shaped her cheek bone. Now she looks like a girl. ;)

Thinned her cheek bone a bit so that her proportions were correct. Added the ear (which you see in the finished piece), detailed the lips and added the eyebrows. Here you see where i placed what are supposed to be scars on her face that stretch down from through her brow to under her eye. This was the last part of her face. The Inquisitor was done a little more loosely to not take away from her face which is basically the focal point of the drawing. The lettering was done with Roman lettering in mind based on the Trajan system that they used for coins. I wanted the lettering to look like it was carved and a bit sloppy so i did it by hand without using a ruler. 

DARK EYES step-by-step (animated)

  

(Above) Dark Eyes finished painting in Photoshop

(Below) Animated step-by-step

THE WOMAN IN BLACK Step-by-step

This is the original preliminary sketch for the The Woman in Black painting. To save space, I merged most of the original files and wasn't able to get them back. I still remember my process and this will be a close to exact way of how I pieced it together.

I started painting in the face very loosely (see prelim image) in gray tones then began to smooth the edges of the face (using a soft airbrush set to low opacity) to get as realistic as possible while making sure my proportions were correct or close to correct. Photo ref used for the face only to capture the model's likeness. The rest of the painting is from imagination except for the costume and character which belong to Monarch Comics.

Once the face was finished, I painted in the basic form using a soft brush without pen pressure. Tried to keep the proportions as close to the model's as possible. She'd probably kill me if I didn't. ;P

This was the original version that I scrapped. The idea was to have the orb glowing while Witch Hunter was trapped inside but the idea had already been done and I think my version would have taken away from The Woman in Black's face which I wanted to be the main focus.

After scrapping the orb idea, the 2nd idea had her with more authority where her hands would be behind her back but that idea bothered me because it didn't show off the rest of her costume...

...so i made her arms visible. It still showed her as authorative and confident. Basic shape of her cape added.   This was the finished idea and now for the details.

Tightening up of the wristbands, right arm, neck and hips as well as the proportion of the head on the left side.

The details of the cape were added using the airbrush in Photoshop set to different sizes with Pen Pressure 'on'.

After the first underpainting was done in gray tone, a second underpainting was added to significant parts of the figure. Everything in black would be kept standard to bring out the background light that i add later towards the end of the piece. The flesh tone was as close as possible to model Cristi Duncan's skin complexion. Lips, skin tone and wristband colors all set to Pen Pressure 'off'.

After the 2 underpaintings were done, now it was time to add a finishing layer. I tinkered with the idea of having a blood red as you see in the first image, but it seemed too warm for her cold, dark stare. So i adjusted the color for something a little cooler and even though i liked both versions, they still didn't settle into her 'evil' demeanor and took away from the warm colors of the 2 underpaintings. These are the completed versions. I had deleted some of my layers so had to redo them for the purpose of this tutorial. :)

Fidgeting with color, i was blessed with one of those happy accidents that happen to some artists. While i was trying to find a nice warm color to fit the mood, i adjusted into some cooler ones and came across a bluish tone that enhanced the character in the correct way. It brought out the underpainted colors properly, and told the story that i wanted to tell. Cold, dark, evil but yet beautiful.

After the final overlay had been set, some background lighting was added as well as highlights to give the form of the figure some depth and i had my finished piece.

BATMAN

It's been a while since my last blog update. Been busy working on new stuff (and fooling around on Facebook). Here is a high res image of my latest--The BATMAN. I tried to combine a little bit of the classic  Batman with the Dark Knight from the comics and movie. Old school Bat-belt with Christian Bale/Nolan Bat gloves/gauntlets.  In the prelim, you can see i had the ears a little to big. I drew in a quick sketch, at first. Tested the lighting with charcoal for the cape, and a little white conte near his left shoulder. Scrapped both ideas because it took away from the highlights on his mask. 

IgRaT

Based on the character from the Verotik comic series from Glenn Danzig. The different renditions that were done of her by other artists had her wearing alot of 'accessories' and armor. I went with the best rendition which was that of Simon Bisley's which you can see here:

The other renditions are good but so stylized it was hard figuring out what was going on especially with her wings. Simon's version is straight and to the point and realistic (as well as Martin Emond's version here)

The wings were tough to do so i referenced some real bat wings. It started out as a quick sketch on paper i was testing out but i got carried away into making it a finished piece. Not a fan of the paper texture which is a Canson Sketch pad. Too smooth for me. Graphite Pencil on paper. 9x12

ANT Unleashed (animated)

There were a good amount of layers i had to merge to reduce the file size but the general images are still intact. You'll see the original quick sketch and the 2nd variation with ANT holding her antennae. Scrapped that idea with a paint-over of her holding one of the blades from her antennae (which made more sense). Painted in gray tones to get lighting correct. Reddish toned layer (set to 'overlay') added over the gray tones. And yes, i posed my arm using my webcam to get HER arm right. ;)  Painted in Photoshop. The character is based on Mario Gully's ANT during the "ANT Unleashed" series. *Click on the image to see the step-by-step animation*

Stare

This is one that had been sitting in my pad for some time. One of those pieces you constantly get frustrated with and toss to the side. And just like magic, the motivation comes back when you get a peek at it again refreshed. I couldn't tell you how many incarnations this piece went through but i am finally pleased with the results. Must have erased this thing a dozen times (you'll notice a slight warpage and paper bubbling just under and between the breasts).Head and the rest of the body drawn from imagination. Hands drawn from life from looking in the mirror. Need i say to my fellow artists how much of a pain hands are to draw? But i'm happy with the end result and it came out the way i planned....elegant and sexy. Graphite Pencil on 9x12 Strathmore paper.

Didi

Took me some time to do this one. It was drawn using Strathmore Sketch paper which, for me, isn't the greatest paper to work with. A little too smooth for my tastes and trying to get good blending is better, in my opinion, on Strathmore Drawing paper. I had drawn this one as a birthday present for my friend's sister and actually sent it to her but i never felt it was fully finished. It was more like a sketch without much rendering and blending. This is the finished version. And yes, i made the birthday deadline! ;P  -ciao!

On The Bed

This one was drawn in graphite and conte on 9x12 pastel paper. I like the tone of the paper but i'm not a big fan of the texture, although it helped me get some good transitions on the female form itself. And it's good friends with conte, i have to say. I'm going to try something smoother-maybe cardstock! Yeah, that's it!! I think it's sexy enough to be called erotic. I started with a basic line drawing on both the figure and wrinkles on the bed sheet. Shading of the figure came first, then the shading of the wrinkles. The wrinkles were done with cross-hatching and the figure was a combination of cross-hatching and finger blending. Oil in your finger helps with smooth transitions. Conte was added last for reflective light, the bed and subtle transitions on the form. I'm curious on the feeling people get from this one...

Yari-Bedroom

A commissioned piece done in Graphite. After getting deep into the drawing it hit me that i should have used my Strathmore 400 rather than using paper from my Canson Sketch Pad. Strathmore gives me a better feel and helps blend better for a more realistic effect. But i'm happy with the result of this one. ;)

-ed

Arjeta

A portrait of my friend, Arjeta. It took a little adjusting creating this one on pastel paper. Normally i prefer white Strathmore. but i wanted to try something different this time in doing a portrait. Graphite Pencil with Conte for the highlights. I like Conte because it gives me a little more control on this type of paper. 9x12

Female Form Study

Another female form study. I want to finish it but then again there's something satisfying with leaving a drawing unfinished. It was drawn using graphite pencil. Hm...maybe i draw a duplicate and finish that one........now there's an idea. ;P

Beast

This is one that had been sitting on my computer for a while (over a year or so). Sometimes i start sketching something then lose the energy for it and it just sits around until i get the fire for it again. This is one of those times. Wasn't looking for anything super detailed. Just kept it quick and loose looking. Both are finished (one with blood and one without). Painted in Photoshop.

*unfinished* Frazetta's Ghoul Queen

Well, my friends, the Frank Frazetta Art Competition is over. This was going to be my submission for the contest but i wasn't able to finish it in time. That's what a full time job'll get ya! Hey, gotta pay the bills. Was doing this one in Grisaille. Painting in grey tones and coloring over in transparent glazes using Photoshop. Now that the contest is over, i'll be able to take my time with it and push for some hyper realism.....along with the Death Dealer image i was doing which i barely started.....see below. Comments welcome.....

*update* here's the link for the Frazetta competition-http://www.galleryprovocateur.org/frazetta.html

Congratulations to all the winners. Beautiful work!!! Long live Frank Frazetta!!!

ANT 3 Tutorial

This is my 3rd Photoshop painting of the character 'Ant' which is the main character from Mario Gully's comic book series of the same name. This is strictly fan art and my appreciation for the character. Now for the tute: 

1-It started out as a basic torso and head drawing. Mario had said he was planning on giving up on the character. The idea of this piece was to give Mario inspiration to keep going and not give up. Obstacles become credible when you allow them to be but Mario pushed forward. Through him, Ant lives on.... 

2- Establishing lighting/shadows with a basic rendering of the head and torso. 

3- The torso/head combo seemed like it was missing something so i decided to make this similar to my ANT 2 piece by adding arms and thighs. Hands were saved for later (all my artist friends know how much of a pain hands are-ugh). 

4- Tightening up the transitions from light to dark giving the figure a smooth look...hands still left untouched. 

5- And now, the accursed hand painting. Photo refs weren't cutting it and after about 2 weeks trying to figure out how to get them to look right, i burned out. It gave me time to think and i finally got the idea of looking at my own hands. You can flip images in Photoshop. I just had to keep hands/fists steady. I used my left hand (my right hand was doing the painting) for both of Ant's. Lighting was improvised (figure was from imagination). 

6-Antennae (and eye color-a basic orange/yellow) were painted last. Getting the perfect angle on them to direct your eye from the top of her head, through her breasts to her fists. There were alot more layers involved but this tutorial is being kept basic. ;P 

7-9-Close-ups of the hands....my hands....and the antennae.

Female Form Practice

Another female form study taken from a photo reference. Trying to master the female form which was a problem for me at one point. Would have loved to draw the actual model from life because of her fantastic figure. Charcoal & Conte on 9x12 Paper.