Long walk

Here is a little digital sketch done primarily with Painter, with a touch of Photoshop here and there. Once again, I was just experimenting a bit between jobs. I didn't give much thought to the composition and it is a little too symmetrical as a result, but I did make an effort to keep it simple and to stay away from making tons of global adjustments or playing around with filters, instead trying to choose the right colors and put them in the right places.

It's not spectacular, but at least it pushes Hitchcock down a notch.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Hitchcock

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the Calgary Comics Expo as a guest. While there, I was bribed into sketching Alfred Hitchcock in exchange for a large bag of candy and a giant chocolate bar. Now, before anyone gets any ideas, candy will not get you a sketch. I am all set for candy. However, there may be other sketch-worthy items out there. I suppose folks looking for sketches will simply have to shower me with gifts until they find the winning items.

To see where this Hitchcock wound up, check out this gallery.

Besides visiting Canada, I have been busy with some non-comics work, including more book covers and DVD packaging. I'll share more details and art when I can, and I'll try to post again soon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joshua

Vixen

I'm sorry I have been away so long. I have been working on all sorts of things, but don't have much I can share just yet. I do have this Vixen cover I put together a few weeks ago.

This one was tough, so much so that I completely scrapped a completed version of the pencils and started over, something I have only done once or twice before. My first pass at it was just too realistic, as I leaned on reference too much. I had completely rendered it in pencil, but after a lot of wasted time trying to "fix" it, I decided to give up and start over. It just isn't possible to make something bigger once it has been put down small.

The second time around, I drew more from my head, and was much happier with the figure in the end. The lion could have been pushed more, but I was running out of time (a shame, since I really love lions. I'll have to find an excuse to draw some more...), so I went with something fairly plain jane.

My first abandoned pass wasn't a total loss, however, since I scanned it to use the shaded tones as a basic shade layer for the new one, albeit with massive cranking of the levels to lose the pencil texture.

I should also mention that I swiped myself for the pose: I drew a Princess Leia for the inimitable John H. a while back and decided to build on that. Just picture Jabba instead of the lion.

Well, there you have it. I will have some more stuff soon, and some news about upcoming projects.

Thanks for looking,

Joshua

WizardWorld Los Angeles

I should have mentioned this earlier, but WizardWorld Los Angeles opens tomorrow for 3 days of fandom fun. Wizard was kind enough to set me up with a table in Artist Alley, so if any of you Los Angeles folks are in the neighborhood, please swing by and say hi. I haven't attended any conventions for quite a long while, so hopefully it will be fun. Plus, it gives me an excuse to run down to Philipe's for a tasty French-dip sandwich. Damn, their spicy mustard is delicious!

See you there,

Joshua

Busy...

Girl in black

Continuing the series of character designs started with the last post. Ink and Photoshop.

I don't think she will mind me saying that all of these characters are based on descriptions by the gracious Barbara Canepa.

Joshua

Characters

I noticed these images were saved as a draft I never got around to posting. I can't recall if I shared some of these in another post, so forgive me if there are some repeats in here. These are some character designs I was working on a while back. The project hasn't been realized, so I won't say too much about these drawings, other than they were drawn in pencil and colored in Painter.

Enjoy.

Joshua

Metamorphose

Here is an image I co-created with the lovely and talented Barbara Canepa to help promote the new "Metamorphose" imprint of Bande Dessinée (French "comic" books) for Soleil, a dynamic publisher in France. This image was used as a fold-out poster in a new Soleil catalog released for Angoulême, France's premier Bande Dessinée festival, which just occurred a week or so ago.

For those of you who may not know, Barbara Canepa is a talented artist and writer, and is behind the highly successful Sky Doll series (amongst several other things), which is soon to be published in the United States by Marvel Comics.

For this poster, I drew the basic layout and imagery based on Barbara's direction, and then handed it off to Barbara to finish. She tweaked the colors, re-arranged some of my drawn elements, and added the lettering to bring the whole thing together. The images in the ovals are from each of the three new series the poster is promoting. My part was drawn in pencil and colored in Photoshop.

As many of you must know, France is a world-leader in the production and appreciation of sophisticated, diverse, and beautifully executed sequential illustration. It would do most of the American comics audience a world of good to look beyond their fetishistic fascination with putridly colored men-in-tights to the wonders being drawn in France and around the globe.

Joshua

Supergirl

Here is a look at the first of a series of covers I am working on featuring DC Comics' heroines. I will post details on where and when they will be published when that information becomes available.

Along with the Photoshop-colored finish, I have posted a detail image to better show the line quality, something I am often asked about. I have also posted the art as it looks on the board, and finally the original thumbnail sketch I sent my editor for approval.

Supergirl's pose was inspired by a picture of a Japanese model kit/figurine I spotted while flipping through a magazine. I don't know anything about the figurine, but I sure wish I owned it. The Japanese are the best sculptors in the business. I was approached many years ago with the possibility of producing a statue based on the Psylocke cover I did for Marvel. My delight quickly turned to horror with the realization that the sculpting would be done by the same folks responsible for the many American superhero busts and action figure abominations out there. Thankfully, it was never produced. I still look forward to the day when I can be involved in the production of a high-quality figure with one of the good Japanese outfits. I'd love to see some figures based on Sky Between Branches characters gracing my shelf one day.

Speaking of Branches, some of you may notice the composition/theme of this Supergirl piece is very similar to a Sky Between Branches image I produced a while back. Let's all just pretend I am not completely out of ideas.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Last JLA Classified Cover Auction

I now have the last remaining JLA Classified cover up for auction. This one is drawn in pencil with a bit of shading on the rocks for texture. Interested parties can click the image in the column to the right to be taken directly to the auction for more details or to place a bid.

Thanks for looking,

Joshua