At the library

Saturday morning I took my sketchbook to the library and spent a little time doing some drawing from life..

So I found a comfortable place to sit with an interseting view.

Work in progress.

I took about an hour, but here's the finished art.

I've been drawing on Thursday nights with a group of skater/graphitti guys at a local t-shirt shop. I did some sharpie drawings of them last Thurs. not the sort of thing I normally do, but whatever...

Sketchbook

Latest from my sketchbook.

Car Show art

I was asked to create art for a VW show.

Wonderboy issue X

I did the cover for issue 10 of Wonderboy from Literoti Press.

Sketches

I've been busy filling up a new sketchbook with an eye towards making my art more realistic.

Planet Comicon

Last weekend I went to the Planet Comicon in Kansas City. I split a table with Mike Kennedy of Celtic Knights fame. My plan was simple; Backing boards, a fistful of sharpies and a tip jar. Basically I drew free sketches for tips and I did pretty good. Below is some of the better ones.

You may wonder why I drew several Wonder Women. Well, everytime I had a break, I drew a Wonder Woman sketch. I would sit it on the table and eventually a girl would come up, look at it and hand me $20. EVERY SINGLE TIME! It was like I was printing twenties!

I thought this Robin turned out great. I had to leave for a meeting (see below) and when I returned he was gone. I hope the right kid grabbed it!

A guy came up and asked for a Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men) in a Vamperilla costume.

I mentioned that I had  meeting. I was selected to meet with a Marvel Editor for a portfolio review. They didn't hire me, but the review went well. He told me I had potential and to keep working. Oh well!

New comic samples

Recently I have been talking to a publisher and they asked if I would be interested in trying something in more of a cartoony style. I've messed around with some sketches, but finally got serious and drew this 3 page sample of The Bug, a character I've used before. This plot is basically a remix of the sample I took to Wizard World Chicago '07. You can see them here http://scottsackett.blogspot.com/2007/08/daredevil-pages.html

I'm not superstitious, but this was the best received of any sample I've brought to a con and go to meet with a Marvel editor.

Anyway, the publisher seemed to like these pages and asked me to do some concept sketches for one of their books.

Warm-up Sketch

Working in a more cartoon style, I drew this in my sketchbook as a warmup.

More Zbrush!

Here's a skull I created while learning Zbrush. I wanted to render it like some sort of retro '50s kids plastic toy, instead of just trying to emulate bone.

Always the storyteller, I was looking for something a little creepy, like a Ray Bradbury tale of a long forgotten childhood Halloween.

Joker sketch

Sketch of the Joker.

Learning Zbrush

I'm learning Zbrush at work. This was my first attempt to do something in 3d.

Sketchbook

This is a 2 page spread from my med Moleskin sketchbook. I don't always like my own art, but I LOVE the drawing of the girl with stripes on the lower left. I think I nailed the attitude I wanted her to have

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanks you for visiting my blog. No matter how you celebrate it, I hope the holiday season was happy and that 2012 will be a better year for all of us and that you have a prosperous year both presonally and professionally!

The Process:

Step 1: I wanted to experiment a little with drawing in the computer, so I drew a rough in Autodesk Sketchbook express. At this point my goal was just to be loose, I was literally 'making it upa as I went along.

Step 2: I took my sketch into Photoshop and added it to a layer and traced over it. I did this step in Photoshop because I am more comfortable with the layers and sizing the print in Photoshop since I am just lerning Sketchbook. Once I got something I felt I could work with, I turned it light blue and printed it out at 11x 14.

Step 3: I inked directly on the light blue print. This was the most enjoyable step, becasue all the 'work' had already been done and I just focused on line weights and texture.

 

Step 4: I scanned the inks into Photoshop, dropped the light blue, then added colors.

More sketchbook stuff

Here's a few more sketches from the last month or so...

Drawing of a co-worker

Working on figures

Trying to capture a likeness of The Hulk

The Scarlet Witch!

Book Cover, part 2

Well, after everything was approved on the book cover and after I got paid, the writer wrote me. Basically he had decided that he wanted something a little more cartoony and he asked if I'd like another shot, so this is what I did:

The funny thing was I had thought he wanted something more realistic, so I steered my first version that way. Now I think everybody is happy and that's the most important thing.

Sketchbook

It's been too long since I updated my blog. My cover below didn't go as smooth as I had hoped (more on that in another post) but here's a few sketches for now.

My wife has an iphone and is checking her email while we are waiting for food. I would be annoyed, but I was drawing, so what can I say..

I had to go to the doctor recently to get chacked out after having some vertigo. Luckily, it just an infection. Also luckily, I didn't have to sit on this table!

Finished cover

Thumbnails for book cover

As mentioned in my perious post, I've hired to draw a book cover. The author, Aaron Pogue loved the chacter sketches so I did a series of thumbnails. Of the half dozen I drew I liked these three and sent them to Aaron.

I had met face to face with Aaron and he gave me the big picture of his book and the entire series. This cover was described by him as a girl thief, in a balcony garden.

(Incidentially, I asked f it was okay for me to use the art in my portfolio, blog, etc. and Aaron kindly gave me premission. You should always ask, not every client feels the same way.)

I haven't heard back what Aaron thinks, but I'll continue to post my steps in this process.

Character Sketches

I was hired to draw a book cover for a book called 'Notes from a Thief" by Aaron Pogue. As part of the deal, I did some sketches for Aaron, just to make sure we are on the same page.