Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Spider-Gwen!

Yup. Spider-Gwen. Honestly, that has to be the dumbest name ever for a superhero or comic book. It is. I am not saying that just to trash it so please just think about it for a moment before you get all defensive. I am going to admit that I really didn't know about her as I don't read many comics anymore and I usually follow the creators more than characters and I have not tried many "new" characters in quite some time. So whey did I draw this? Well, as fate would have it, I have been seated near Robbi Rodriguez twice in the past year and once (in Chicago), right next to him. We chatted a bit when he was not swamped with fans and he signed and gave me a copy of the first issue for free. Nice guy. It was months later before I actually read the book but it did look nice and I could not help but notice that there are SO many ladies out there that have been taken with the character and started to cosplay her in mass quantities! Plus I kept being asked if I had any Spider-Gwen art or planned on doing any. It wasn't until I was walking out of a convention that I was suddenly hit with the idea that I should do one and that I could use Emma Stone as the likeness. Seemed like a natural fit for me considering the work I have been turning out of late. I know that Emma is more than likely never to play the part again and if we see a Gwen Stacy in the movies again it will be played by another actress but she is currently in the conscious of the pop culture masses and who am I to not indulge that. Exactly! Plus, I could always update the picture should someone else ever take on the mantle! Ha!!

So, here is Spider-Gwen!

Enjoy.



Thursday, August 13, 2015

The Walking Dead!

I admit that I have never read or even looked thru a Walking Dead comic book. I also didn't watch the TV show when it first came on either. My wife and I got hooked on it when it aired as re-runs just before the second season and we were hooked. We have not fallen off and it's still one of the only shows that we actually watch the night it's on! That says a lot considering the time of DVR and on demand services that are available today. I have done a Walking Dead piece before. Some may remember the Michonne picture I made a few years back. It was in my "toon" style but it was fairly well received.

So cut to a few years later and my style has changed and I have been showing at a lot more comic book and pop culture conventions and people always ask me for Walking Dead. I have been at several shows and seen the mass of people that gather for Norman Redus first hand. But I stopped printing my Michonne piece some time back and I have shied away from doing any other Walking Dead related drawings for one reason or another. So when a Walker Stalker convention announced they would be coming here to Orlando, I figured the time was right to do another piece. I really enjoyed piecing this one together. The biggest hurdle was to pick which characters to use as I didn't want to paint a million heads all in one. I figured I could always do more and use other characters in each if the muse dictates it so. I did take the most liberties with Rick. I know that he never really wore his police uniform with his beard, but I found that both elements were iconic and wanted to mix them. I also took some flak for putting his gun in his left hand (Danny!!) but I actually found reference to support me on that front. Plus when you are a bad ass like Rick Grimes, you can shoot with either hand anyway. Unless it's in the comic. From what I am told.

Enjoy!