Shredder Drawing

Shredder...being mean to turtles...

Here There Be Monsters Comic: Jason Family Portrait

Here There Be Monsters Comic: Jason Family Portrait

Splinter from TMNT

Master Splinter from TMNT...enjoying a quite cup of tea after a busy day...

More Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Action Figure Drawings

Chrome Dome from TMNT vs Usagi Yojimbo

Scale Tail from TMNT (I loved this action figure as a kid)

More Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Drawings

Cola Con Interview

Rachel and I got a chance to talk to Belvin Olasov from the USC Daily Gamecock while we were  participating at last week's Cola Con. I'm glad Belvin used Rachel's quote about the Con. A lot of the artist's were disappointed about low turnout over the weekend, but Rachel pointed out that we all might have had some unrealistic expectations about a very young event. After talking with some local comic shop owners today, I think there's a general idea of how to get more crowds at next year's Cola Con. Here's to hoping that Cola Con 2014 is a smashing success. For our part in Cola Con 2013, Pretty Weird Art had a blast. We plan on participating again next year.

http://www.dailygamecock.com/article/2013/10/cola-con-mixes-hip-hop-comics

Churchology Comic 15

Churchology Comic: 15

In case you need to zoom in, check the comic out on my DA page.

http://ehudsbloodysword.deviantart.com/art/Churchology-Web-Comic-15-409929801

Spiderman Drawings from Cola Con 2013

Ethan drew Spiderman action figures during Cola Con. Rachel's working on a huge piece that is an interstellar alien beauty pageant. It'll be done soon and it'll look freaking' awesome when it's finished. Stay tuned. 

Cola Con 2013

We had a great time at Cola Con! A big thank you to everyone who bought comics, prints, and original artwork from us. The con was small, but we met a lot of awesome people. Our table mate Sam Spina took this photo of our table for us...We bought one of his books and read it this afternoon. Fun Stuff. More pics of artwork from the con to come.

Check out our Pretty Weird Art Page to see some sketches from the Con: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretty-Weird-Art/120074491366900

I'd like to pimp out our Cola Con table mate, Sam Spina. Here's the copy of Sam Spina's book that we got from the con. You should check his work out. He just relocated to the Atlanta area and swung by Cola Con to check out Columbia's comic scene. 

http://spinadoodles.blogspot.com

Cola Con Sketches

In honor of the first night of Cola Con, Sketches!

Dr. Octopus Really Hates Spiders...

Shipwreck from Gijoe Really Hates EELS...

Dino Rider Triceratops and Raptor

Dino Rider Triceratops and Raptor

Casey Jones from TMNT

Casey Jones from TMNT

Cain

"Cain"

I’ve always been fascinated by God’s dealing with Cain. Cain was the first murderer. He killed his own brother out of jealousy and resentment. I’ve heard many a preacher talk about Cain’s murderous act, but very few have ever talked about God’s reaction to it.

God audibly asks Cain what he has done with his brother. Cain lies. God exposes his lie and forces Cain to acknowledge that he killed Abel. Cain then expresses a fear that when people learn of his crime, they will hunt him down and kill him. God’s reaction to Cain is not one of immediate judgment. He doesn’t eradicate him for his brother’s murder. Instead, he places a mark on Cain’s forehead and declares that if anyone harms him, they will incur God’s wrath.

 I’ve always seen God’s response to Cain as an act of grace. God’s holiness demanded judgment for Cain’s wrongdoing, but God’s love and graciousness postponed that judgment until a later date. It even caused God to take steps to preserve Cain’s life.  

Comic Con Schedule for 2014

We're working on a tentative con schedule for 2014. Here's the events that we're thinking about attending. 

April - Awesome Con, Washington DC

May - X-Con, Myrtle Beach, SC

May - Atlanta Comic Con, GA

June - Heroes Con, Charlotte, NC

Sep - Wizard Con Richmond, VA

Sep - Wizard Con Nashville, TN

Oct - Cola Con, SC

Nov - NC Comic Con, Raleigh, NC

We're also considering some larger cons, depending on if we can afford the travel costs.

February - Wizard World, New Orleans

March - Wizard World Louisville, KY

April - C2E2

July - Supercon, Miami, Florida 

Magazine Illustration Process Walk Through

I thought it might be helpful to other people studying illustration to see the working process that goes into a magazine illustration project. I recently had the great pleasure to create a cover, fold out poster, and several spot illustrations for a children's magazine. Below, I'm going to walk you through the creative process that went into the job.

The initial brief said that the project would have the theme of brain vs. technology. The project would include a cover, spot illustrations, and a fold out poster that included a mad scientist and his brain collection. My job was to work with the magazine's designer and come up with some illustrations for the cover and inside spreads that would feature some sort of face off between the brain and tech. My initial ideas for the cover and spots played off of the mad scientist theme for the poster. I envisioned illustrations that would be in the style of a z-grade 1950's horror flick, with a monster brain battling a monster robot. The editorial staff felt that approach might go over the target audience's heads, so I worked on some more ideas.

My second batch of thumbnails played around with several different versions of face offs--game shows, board games (featuring a sock'em robot game of course), boxing posters, video games, and wrestling rings.

The designers and editors really liked the direction of a game show, so I worked up a few layout ideas for the cover.

We settled on a basic sketch, which I further developed through inks and color comps.

Ink sketch over the pencil thumbnail.

The initial color comp.

A further developed image incorporating a more detailed background.

The final drawing for the cover.

My initial thumbnail for the poster illustration.

There were multiple brain-related facts that the design team wanted to include on the poster. I drew up several different visuals to illustrate the brains in humorous ways.

The final poster illustration. I'd post the more refined pencils, but I seem to have misplaced them at the moment, and since it's getting close to my bed time, you'll just have to take my word for it that there were some tight pencils that came before this final, colored stage.

The final cover and spots.

The final poster.

Gijoe Fan Art Book