Supergirl 34

DC has just released this image, so I will share it here, too. This is the cover to Supergirl issue 34, my first cover as the new regular cover artist for the Supergirl monthly series.

The idea of having Supergirl and Silver Banshee busting out of a newspaper article came from DC (I believe the new writer, Sterling Gates, suggested it originally) and after sketching a bit, I thought it would be nice to make the cover itself the newspaper, incorporating the logo and other trade dress into the design, rather than showing a newspaper sitting on a table or something. DC liked the idea, so I set to work figuring out how to incorporate all of the text. DC was kind enough to provide me with all of the logos so that I could marry them to the drawing naturally.

In the end, placing the text was a bit of a pain, especially on the torn pieces from the reverse side of the paper. I actually cut up some newspapers to figure it out. I hope the end result is worth all of the effort. I did learn a bit more about Photoshop's text editing tools, which are more powerful than I had realized.

Fans of the series with a careful eye may be able to piece together some story "Easter eggs" in the various headlines.

I am already working on the next one, which might also incorporate the logo into the art in an interesting way. I'm going to try to keep it interesting every month.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joshua

Next Avengers DVD packaging

Here are the front and back images for the packaging of the upcoming Marvel/Lionsgate direct-to-DVD animated feature, "Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow". Both images will be cropped a bit once they see print, and needless to say, will have a lot of text, credits, and insets adorning them.

I wasn't involved with the project other than illustrating the package, so my work was based on what had already been done for the film. The challenge was to keep the characters on model while lending them a pinch of my interpretation. I don't know how successful I was, but I enjoyed the job.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

The War That Time Forgot

Here is a cover I did a little while ago for an upcoming issue of The War That Time Forgot, a DC Comics series which looks to be a lot of fun. It is nice to see a book with a classic, fantastic adventure feel to it.

Perhaps the classic feel of the book influenced my approach to the cover as well, which I drew in a more traditional "comic book" style, with spotted blacks and line weights in ink (although I colorized a lot of the black while coloring in Photoshop).

I will have more work and more news soon, including some info on my new regular cover assignment for DC. Thanks as always for stopping by and having a look.

Joshua

Random sketches

Just some doodles.

J

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