Steel City - Town of Champions! Located in the State of Heroes!

Why is it that all the cool people I have found on line lately have been either from Pittsburgh or out of the Great State of Pennsylvania ! Such as illustrator Dawn Griffen ~ web comic guru, illustrator Frank Soto ~ guru inker, Ali Spangnola ~ Rock Star guru, Mike Bertucci ~ Gun dealer guru, Joe Szejk ~ writer guru. So now you may ask What is Steel City? It is the fictional representation of the City of Pittsburgh! The MOST AWESOME PLACE ON EARTH. (no its really a dump) but its cool because I got my start as a kid there. The place seemed to energize me! So it will be the basis of most of the Web Comic projects I will produce.

The Never to be Humble Drill Sergeant

Here is one of my all time greatest inspirations Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Some may love her while other hate her, but She is one of my favs. Her advice is on point and relevant cutting through the excuses and 'bull' that people try to hide behind. Unfortunately, photos from her the past, then statements taken out of context caused her to suffer greatly. But as for me I still respect and honor her "Never to be humble" opinions. This is a drawing I did back in 2000.

For more on the good doc click here

Autographs but no interviews...Please!

THE DYNAMIC RICH BUCKLER!

THE ASTONISHING BUDDY SCALERA 

Recently got back from my retreat and to my excitement not one BUT TWO autographs came in the mail! I ordered books and resources from two of my revered personalities in comics and they both signed the correspondence. I have been a fan of Rich Buckler since I was a kid. In fact after re reading his book, I realized where I got some of my techniques and ideas for page layout from. Thanks again guys for helping me on my way to become a better comic artists. I will be in one of the "Greats" one day!

Steel City's Finest...or Worst.

Darrin Johsnon a.k.a SMASHING JOHNSON

Shannon Meredith O'Keefe a.k.a BLITZ

Steel City's Finest, or worst  (It depends on how you look at it). But what I can say is that these two are a lot of fun to draw. Blitz and Smashing Johnson are two of the protagonists that I hope that you will love to hate in HellYeah! Phil Knox has brought these two to life in the script, I just I can keep it going drawing them. Whats mostly cool about them is that I used two of the personal trainers at my gym as character references. I  made a drill for myself: I studied them from afar and tried to draw from memory for concept art. I have some facial changes to make, and they are not exact replicas of the "real" people, nor do the fictional comic character's narcissistic personalities in ANY WAY reflect the actual models. The real people are awesome folks and great trainers real MOTIVATORS!

Meanwhile in New Bantu, Africa...

EVIL DEEDS! Today and tomorrow I take a break from drawing to write the great Maffett Graphic Novel----(hold your applause, please... you are took kind, thank you, thank you). Evil Deeds is a work that has been inside of my heart for quite a while. It mirrors real world situations that are going on today. It is centered in a fictional African Nation call New Bantu. It is an area of violent revolution and turmoil. I drew this page about 6 months ago. This particular incident has a cameo that features Mel Todd's character Jystus from Allegories of the Way. Jystus is tasked by God to prevent the sexual abuse of young Mi Hae "Pauline" Park. Pauline unknown to the world at that time will be the Ultra Hero named Domino. God's mercy and grace in her life allow her to the opportunity to overcome a extremely abusive and hurtful past to become an extraordinary selfless Hero. For more on Allegories of the Way, click here.

Welcome to New Bethlehem

Ahhh. New Bethlehem. New Beth is a fictional planet in the story of Raegen and RJ in Space. (scroll down and you can see them in a alternate cover I did,--- that alternate cover became the main cover after Mr. Collins saw it --- but I digress). Back to New Beth. I studied up and figured out how to give the planet a realistic look. I you look The land masses are actually the same as in Mr. Collin's original design. Rich Collins designed his entire children's book in MS Powerpoint. NOW that is TALENT AND SKILL!  I dont have the patients of time to argue with PPT that long. I am very pleased on how New Beth came out. This background will replace the one on the Alternate cover me and Dony did. If you have not got it yet, please support Rich Collins buy purchasing a copy of Raegen and RJ in space for a kid you love. They make great bed time stories for toddlers and elementary age kids! 

Click here for Raegen and RJ in Space! 

BombShell Before and After

I was creating the cover for HellYeah! Issue #1. My vision had a very dynamic action pose with serious foreshortening for BombShell. So fans, here is my first serious attempt at a dynamic foreshortened pose. I used Shenshi for a photoreference, this dude is a life saver.The top version is the first layout of Bombshell with the reference from senshistock on deviant art. She looked way too basic for my liking plus though Shenshi gave great photo reference ( I like model's the right hand in the photo). But I wanted BombShell to be kicking you in the face with that spiked heel. So I reworked it and used SketchUp to get a shoe reference also. I like the results. (I will be a Jedi Illustrator one day...Just you wait!)

My take on The Comics Code Athourity

why?

sexism, strong language,adult situations, racism, smoking, alcohol use, drug abuse, violence, non politically correct statements, cruelty to animals, car chases, reckless driving, brief nudity, juvenile delinquency, deviant psychotic behavior, poor dental hygiene, lack of personal hygiene, arrogance, poor grammar, a nation that has turned its back on God and the constitution, elementary school truancy, the word "Hell" in the title... (need I go on)

and this is a comic with christian believers message?

sure, it has to be all written and drawn to allude to the topics but not be gratuitous in its presentation. (see reference source... The Bible)

further more... if there was none issues listed above the above in the world, Jesus would have been really board down here. And I don't think it would have been worth his while to hang on the cross.

My never to be humble opinion

--
Be Blessed, and remember the avocation of rights breed rebellion while the practice of responsibility breed revival

Officer M

Today's Bic Pen Sketch

Here are some more Bic Pen Sketches. This topic is "Blitz" she is going to be the protagonist in HellYeah! she started out as a background character but through working with Phil Knox and developing her backstory she became a favorite. I changed her original layout to give he straighter hair and thinner eyebrows. Her body type changed a little too. She will be more of a mesomorph and athletic, without much of the curves. She also will no longer be a cheerleader but a roller derby enthusiast and player. I cant take credit for the original concept, she is a character in Fallen Justice and only mentioned in one frame on Justice Theta's Kill list. So its cool that we can do pretty much what ever we want to with her because in the Dyna-Girl/Fallen Justice Universe she is already dead. We plan to give her one wild ride until her untimely demise as the hands of Justice Theta. For more Blitz click here or here or here or officially here

Back In the Game

Here is one of my favorite comic super heroes....(wait for it) DYAN-GIRL! What I like most about her is that (not only is she homage to Ms. Marvel) but is designed to be a realistic version of a single mom who has super powers. Her original story arc, though tragic is interesting. As for design Harold Edge gave her some swagg by adding high heeled boots with a metal kick plate and cog syled heels. The thick leather outerbelt says style while she is wearing a metallic looking corset to give her some back support. The gloves are what are cool too, they scream "female" by simulating how women wear pull their long sleeve shirts down over their hands (I dont know of any straight guys that do that). You can learn more about Dyna-Girl at RedHanded Studio's kickstarter program. While you are there, donate $5. These guys have been putting out quality web comics for the past few years free. Its time we start giving back so that they can continue to provide us with the entertainment we love and enjoy. DYNA-GIRL is going to be BACK IN THE GAME! (soon we hope...)

As for my design take, I tried to keep with Harold Edge's original design. What more can you add? I cleaned up her logo in Illustrator and added a RedHanded studio ball cap and baseball bat as props. Her physical shape is pretty much a MesoMorph that has dropped a kid and trying to get back into shape. So her legs are thick and bulky as well as broader shoulders and back. Her mid section is a problem because, I guess she gained a few pounds dropping a baby and getting out of fighting crime full time. Colors are added by Dony Armstrong  whom I affectionately call The Jedi Colorist. All I can say about Dony is that his becoming one of my best friends, not just because he rescues my art and brings it to living color. But he has the true heart of a Man of God. 

CometGirl!

Here she is in all of her radiant glory...Angelite Comic's COMET GIRL. I did this piece to practice inking one of my favorite artist (and friend's) artwork... The astonishing Melchizedek Todd! Mel has a very unique style that is accentuated by loose living lines and heavily influenced by fluidity, motion, emotion & perspective. His art is powerful because you dont see much of this in mainstream comics. Unfortunately I am still trying to figure out how to ink his stuff and keep his line accents, because my style is more stylized with bolder tighter detailed lines (a side effect of my OCD I guess).  As for Angelite Comics and its visionary creator David Rothschiller, you can read more about them here! 

Jadian!

Some Fan art for Craig from CCAS. His comic is called The First Christian Comic and features Jadian. Craig has not put out much about this comic. I used my flats and cell shading technique in coloring this one. I tried to give her my spin on the costume but it was more difficult. It seems that in the original character sketches he has calls for a "Holiness" looking superhero, even down to the flowing choir robe,  pleated skirt, ruffles and head covering. Not sure how functional that works for a superhero. I hope it works out for her. 

It's Captain Sun!

Two pieces of fan art for Pastor Bryce Morgan's Rescue Me. I did the colors all by my self! This was  training project I did for myself to learn how to Flat (the lower illustration is how my flats look prior to going to the colorist). The top illustration is me practicing digital airbrushing. Rescue Me is another children's piece. The graphic novel is written as a devotional for children and uses the super hero characters to teach essential Biblical concepts. So its not a "Christian Comic" per se but more of a creative teaching mechanism. It has a wholesome message and good looking stylized artwork by Mitch Martin. I liked what I saw and did some fan art for them. I gave ol' Captain Sun my spin and tried to give him a more functional and realistic uniform. For more on Rescue Me or to order the book (WHICH HAS ME FEATURED IN THE FAN ART SECTION!) go to http://itscaptainsun.com/