Jon Pinto

So what happens when two things you love collide? When I was a kid growing up watching re-runs of shows long gone, two of my favorites were The Adventures of Superman (obviously) and I Love Lucy. I was simply blown away one day when Superman himself showed up on Lucy's show playing Superman! I actually have the episode recorded and saved on my DVR for several years now. In fact I just learned that there is a color version of it but I have only seen clips and screenshots of it and not the whole episode as of yet. I'll have to look for it.

So I was in California recently and was asked several times if I would consider ever doing a Lucy/Superman piece. Actually I was asked by the same person but he did ask several times! I thought it was a great idea but I really didn't think it would sell that well. More recently I finished a retro looking cartoon drawing of Lost in Space. I didn't plan on making that picture either, they were just doodles in my sketchbook that all came …

Today the 1000th issue of Action Comics, the one that started it all, is released. Obviously I have been a long time fan and once had dreams of being a comic book artist. I made this by scanning in my original pencil drawing and then digitally inking and coloring it. I played around a bit and even "mocked" up the logo and aged the paper leaving the "masking fluid" a brighter white like old comic pages look like now when you see them. The colored version has a dot tone pattern mixed in as well. I really enjoy making pictures like this.

Happy 80th Anniversary Superman!! Thanks for everything.

Enjoy!

Well it happened. I missed posting last month and the streak has come to an end. What streak? The streak of posting every single month, at least once, every month for the past 10 years!! 10 YEARS!! The last time I missed a post was March of 2008. A lot has happened. Oh well, it was bound to happen sometime and I am really glad to have hit the 10 year mark.

So in honor of that, here is a sketchbook dump. :)

Enjoy!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of my all time favorite movie: Superman! I can hardly believe it's been that long. And while some of the special effects may look dated by today's standards, they still look impressive and the movie itself is still the benchmark of not just a good superhero movie, but how good a movie can be. I can still remember going to see the movie in December of '78 at the old Oritani Theatre in Hackensack, New Jersey! If you are familiar with the movie, you know why that was relevant. I had home-made pajamas with the S shield sewn on by my grandmother. I threw icicles into snow banks as if the Fortress of Solitude would emerge. For a nine year old, I also managed to save newspaper clippings that I have to this day relating to the movie. I have worn out two copies on VHS and still have it on DVD, Blu-Ray and digitally. It's almost always loaded on my iPhone too.

As for this picture? Well, I actually started it two years ago. That's when I b…

You may have seen him recently on America's Got Talent, but we first learned about Bello several years ago when we first brought my son to the Circus. We were all impressed and enjoyed ourselves but I was especially taken by Bello Nock. Wasn't hard to do a little research to find out more about him and I became even more impressed with him. Over the holidays I usually like to wind down and take a break from "work" so I only dabbled a little here and there on a picture that I had long planned on doing. As usual, with no deadline, I was free to work when I wanted to and at a much slower pace. I was pretty pleased with the result. With the added time I did a few things that I would normally not do in a digital painting like added some depth by dropping shadows behind the figures and shapes giving a slight impression of a cut-out.

I also sent him a small copy of the picture via instant message and he responded with great affection. He may even share it on his social medi…

By now the whole world knows who the new Doctor Who is and what she will be wearing when the show returns this fall. Yes, she. It's been a very polarizing decision to cast a woman in a role that has only been played by men since the show started way back in 1963. Even in my own household! Yes, I will admit that I was not keen on the idea. Not because of any political or social stance but one of selfishness. Let me try to explain. I lost my father when I was very young and immediatley turned my attention to comic book and television heroes to fill the void of a positive male role model in my life. The Doctor was one of them. I wasn't yearning for a female role model because I was (and still not) a female and I already had the best role model for that in my mother. I am not opposed to strong female characters either. I always loved Wonder Woman, Princess Leia and such as well. My other problem with the gender change was that it may change the character too much. I am really hopi…