A detail of a page from Tori Amos: Comic Book Tattoo. Story by Derek McCulloch.

Watercolor and digital.

Thanks for your patience.

An illustration for Joe Lansdale’s novel Dead in the West, published by Nightshade Books. The hardcover designer did a great job of recreating the look of an old pulp magazine, though I think I could have made my zombies creepier. I had fun with this job.

An illustration on the theme video piracy for a media industry magazine. You can tell it’s got a few years on it from the pic of the video tape. I don’t think anyone uses those any more!

Watercolors.

I recall this is one of the first images I had to send to a client via email, and I didn’t have the equipment. I hired someone else to scan and send it, and they botched it badly. This helped convince me that I had to learn computer skills for myself.

Past issues also feature entertaining interviews with Stephenie Meyers and Neil Gaiman.

<strong>11:00 am – 11:30 am – Authors On the Pavilion. Barry Lyga with Colleen Doran: A Sneak Preview to His First Graphic Novel.
Barry Lyga’s first two novels, <em>The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl</em>, and <em>Boy Toy</em> both received excellent reviews and have established him as a rising force in the world of young adult literature. Now, his with his first graphic novel, published by Houghton Mifflin on the way, Barry and his creative partner on the project, Colleen Doran will be here to give a sneak peek at the book and to talk about the process of collaboration on a graphic novel. </strong>

<a href=”http://annual.ala.org/2010/index.php?title=Graphic_Novel_Pavilion”>American Library Association Meeting to feature major graphic novel programming.</a> Clink linky for complete info.

A drawing from The Silmarillion. This was a personal work.

Maeglin is one of the few bad elves in the Tolkien saga. He fell in love with his cousin Idril, but she spurned him. He was captured by Orcs and in order to save himself, he agreed to betray the elves to Morgoth. For this betrayal, he was promised dominion over Gondolin and the hand of Idril.

Things went downhill from there.

Some of my favorite Lord of the Rings sketch cards. These are drawn directly in pencil on the original card. They are inserted in packs of trading cards as prizes.

Some artists have time to do elaborate paintings, but most just do quick sketches. It takes roughly the same time to do a tight sketch like these as it does to do a little color piece, but most fans are dazzled by color and would prefer a color sketch.

I don’t do many cards anymore because I am too busy. But when I am a big fan of the project, I try to carve out some time.

Not sure who the copyright holder is on this license. Tolkien Estate? Whatever. © 2010.

A preliminary color test for a pinup of Valkyrie, a piece I did for Marvel’s Girl Comics #2. It should be on the stands right now.

The pencil prelim is on the previous page.

I scanned the unfinished pencils into Photoshop, and then used a watercolor original painting as a backdrop. Then I painted a test on top of the layers of drawing and painting. I chose to use a much deeper palette for the final work.

This piece presented here with the kind permission of Marvel comics. © and ® Marvel Comics 2010.

Marvel’s Girl Comics #2 is now on sale in comic shops. I did a Valkyrie pinup for the book. This is the preliminary drawing.

I enjoy Norse mythology, and used to be an avid Thor comics fan. One of the first Marvel Comics I ever tried to emulate was The Defenders. Valkyrie was prominently featured in the series, so it was a real treat to draw Valkyrie in an official Marvel comic.

I’d originally intended to paint her on her flying horse, but balked at the tight deadline.

This piece is presented with the kind permission of Marvel Comics and my editor Jeanine Schaefer. I will also post the under painting in a few days.

The original drawing is for sale. Please inquire.

© ® Marvel Comics 2010