Earth-38, Part 3

Librarian by day, nocturnal-detective-librarian by night... she's the Batgirl of Earth-38! Bubbly and friendly, she's the polar opposite of this world's Batman (and most of the Justice League agrees that's probably not a bad thing). Rumors are she's currently seeing this Earth's Captain Marvel...

Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Earth-38, Part 2

Ah, Earth-38... my new favorite alternate reality (and I have so many already, it's hard to select just one). Yesterday's Starman turned out pretty well, so here's my version of Green Lantern. Not quite as good as yesterday's, but fun nonetheless.

I need to do more theme weeks... they seem to actually motivate me to DO something.
Click the thumbnail below for a larger view.

Earth-38, Part 1

Since the end of DC Comics' "52" mega-series, the Multiverse has been officially back for Superman, Batman, and all the rest. Not-quite-infinite Earths for there to be a not-quite-infinite number of crises on. Oh boy.

I was not a fan of this.

But THEN I discovered the heroes of Earth-38. They're pretty cool. Here's a sketch of that universe's totally rockin' Starman. I think I'll do their Green Lantern or Batgirl next... click the thumbnail for a larger view.

So This Is Christmas...

... and what have I done? Not a whole heckuva lot, lately. Better late than never, I hope.

For most folks Christmas time starts the day after Thanksgiving. For my mother, it starts October first. For others it's later (for some department stores it's sooner), but for ME... Christmas isn't officially here until I watch The Grinch. My folks and I did this weekend, so I was inspired to do this quick sketch of him tonight. I'm never gonna top Dr. Seuss or Chuck Jones, but I think this was a pretty good mix of their styles and mine.
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

... normally I'd never post one of my students' drawings, but while I doodled tonight one of my younger students was himself inspired and did an AMAZING drawing. I made a photocopy of it, and I posted a scan below. I hope that's not a horrible thing to do, I was just so proud of him, the drawing is fantastic; this guy is a third grader, I think.

Gas Light Genghis Khan

So it's time once again for another round of "I-Don't-Know-Who-I'm-Drawing-But-Oh-Well." Sometimes it's fun to just get a basic outline of an idea and design a character as you go, filling in the back story and purpose-for-being later.

This guy originally started out as one member of a group of hired mercenaries for the Steampunk RPG; he's ended up becoming a criminal kingpin of the highest order (sort-of). A silent Moriarty-style mastermind (I think). He looks ridiculous and I love it. Next time I'll spend more time on his levitation boots, since they're way too clean and stream-lined to be "steampunk."
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Steampunk Blues

Tonight, Friday, just doesn't FEEL right. I had a great Thanksgiving (featuring the First Annual Laundrie Family Turkey Bowl Presented by Nintendo Wii)... and I enjoy time with my family. Still.

It's FRIDAY.

Which would normally mean jammin' with The Soular Caddilacz and some hard-core Steampunkery ROLE-PLAYING madness (and/or watching of ridiculous comedy films). I look forward to this craziness all week.

Sigh.

Here's a video of how it normally goes. Yeah, everybody's probably already seen this. I'm always two or three years behind everything awesome. I'm posting it anyway, and pouring out a 40 of Mountain Dew for my absent homies or something.



[Click Here For The Original]

Seventh-ninths in ten Earth seconds!

Alright, I've got Internet! I'm on vacation, visiting family, so there's no real posting of sketches to speak of. I will, however, still attempt to post! This is quickly turning into my YouTube dump anyway, so I may as well continue down that path.

I've seen these in magazines and I WANT THEM, but I'm not yet fabulously wealthy so no luck there. Still, this infomercial is darned informative and I thought I'd share it with you.

'Sides, Christmas is comin' soon...

Color Me (Almost) Finished

Stage Four: Flat Colors! Again I break the coloring portion of the project up, laying down the simple flat colors first (with some gradient exceptions) before moving onto the shading and other lighting effects. I'm going to be experimenting with hi-lites this time, too, something I don't often attempt. So that should be interesting.

Not sure how much time this will take me, or how much time I'll have this weekend to take care of it, but I'm going to start it at least. Next week I'll be on break, so there probably won't be much to see here on the Brand X Blog. Thanks for checking back, though!
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Holy Toledo

I have nothing to say on this... other than, "Thank you, Tammy, for changing my life." [Also, partially colored Wozar comin' tomorrow, for those of you who are interested.]



Click Here For The Original

It's like Night & Day...! *cough*

Alright, so here's the version with finished inks. To ME this stage adds quite a bit to the image and really makes it pop; hopefully you'll notice it too:

I've only got the coloring to do now, which will either be the quickest or the longest part of this project, I can't tell yet. It always amazes me how I absolutely cannot EVER estimate that beforehand. Some images color very quickly, while others require crazy effects and take me forever. I'll keep you posted on my progress there.

Also, in case the differences really don't seem significant to you, I'll post this side-by-side in an effort to justify my taking an additional day (or two) to finish this:

Back in (Partial) Black

From time to time somebody will ask me how I go through the process of actually FINISHING a pencil sketch with inks and colors, so I thought I'd post an image of each stage of that process. There are plenty of different ways to do this, but this is how I learned and what I continue to do.

This is Stage Two: Partial Inks. I've taken the pencil sketch and inked in the major outlines and details. I've still got some more inking to do, but this is the first pass I normally make. Most cartoonists determine their light source and make thicker lines opposite that source as they go to indicate shadows. I do the same thing, but I usually do it after this initial inking stage. It's more time-consuming, but it's easier for me to keep it all straight. I've tried doing it as I go before and it just results in me swapping pens every three seconds and making a muddy mess at the end.

After the thicker shadow lines I'll add some more texture and detail (but not too much, since I plan to color it after). A plain black & white image would have more texturing done to indicate the different colors; I won't need to do that here.

Click the thumbnail below to cut the art lesson and see a larger view.

Look to the Skies...

Again another week passes with no post from me; I'm horrible, I know it. I just wasn't sure if it would be in good taste to post with things so crazy after the escape of Sikstus Seethar. I think I'm ready now, we haven't heard anything since the initial break-out.

Today I've posted an initial sketch I want to do of Wozar. I've been reading my insane super hero comics lately, where people get smacked about and worlds collide and universes die and the variant covers are usually ugly. I was wondering how my super-characters would handle it, so I set pencil to paper. I plan to finish this (inks and colors), so stay tuned for that. For now, click the thumbnail to see what I've got so far.

Santa-Saurus Updates

For those of you who are interested, I've placed a small space for "Santa-Saurus" links to the right of these posts, under my Contact Information. I hope I won't need to update it too often, but some people have asked about Santa-Saurus' past crimes. Click the link(s) to learn about them.

Uh-Oh...

Hey folks, sorry there was no sketch yesterday. I was planning to try a picture of a witch (since that was subtly requested almost a MONTH ago), but I was held up helping a former associate. Dr. Scheffield is a toy historian (who is a toy herself) and professor of the action figure occult. She had bad news: One of Santa-Saurus' chief supporters has escaped. Even though Santa-Saurus itself is dead, this is trouble indeed.

Most of you remember the Santa-Saurus scare of '05, but for those of you who don't, I have this chilling image to offer you:


I've asked Dr. Scheffield to post my notes from the near-disaster on her blog, which she will do soon. In the meantime... remain vigilant, read the doctor's blog when you can, and keep a close eye on your toys. This could be another rough Christmas season.

Monster Mash-Up

Halloween approaches! In case you didn't notice. Apparently holidays make me extra creative, since I cranked these out at work today without even noticing (although the kids at the table did; they like to tease me for goofing around after I bark at them to get to work. I just bark some more).

I probably mentioned it already, but this is my FAVORITE time of year. Halloween, then Thanksgiving and Christmas... all the great sappy family holidays I adore. Good times... click the thumbnail for a (hopefully) un-sappy view.

Tell Them Boris Sent You

Ah, Frankenstein. Always my favorite of the classic Universal movie monsters, and the one character I draw over... and over... and OVER... every Halloween. It's taken me awhile to do more than just a quick-and-dirty sketch, and actually get a nicely done one finished. I've tried to do one that was more like the original literary creature, but it always ends up being flat-topped Boris Karloff. I don't think I have any problem with that, honestly.
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

"You have the ability to instill great fear..."

Okay, so I was at work tonight. And I knew that I was supposed to draw another picture of Phineas M. Hornsby for our game session tomorrow night. So I got a fresh piece of paper, a sharpened pencil, and I drew Green Lantern's worst enemy.

... who is not actually Phineas M. Hornsby, famed steampunk explorer.

This is why I never accomplish ANYTHING.

I am quite proud of how it came out though! His hair looks horrible, but that's kind of the new style (sort of). Oh well; maybe next time I try to draw Commander X, I'll end up doing a better job on the rogue Green Lantern's mane.

Recite the oath, and click the thumnail, for a larger view:

In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light
Let those who try to stop what's right,
Burn like my power... Sinestro's might!

In Command

I was realizing today how odd it is that my "flagship" character, Commander X, is one I haven't drawn at all in a LONG time. I doodle Wozar frequently. I've been working on my RPG characters. Heck, I even draw Tygre at work. But seldom Commander X. Today I remedied that.

I'm actually toying with the idea of redesigning him somewhat, but for now I stuck to my classic design (which reminds me: I should post the REALLY classic design for you to all laugh at sometime). Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

SteamBot V.1.0

Again with the crazy psuedo-Victorian Steampunkery! The level of detail required for these things is daunting, but it sure is fun. I didn't have time to complete him (and there are a few changes I'd like to make, looking at him now), but I thought I'd post it at this point in the process. Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

This Drawing Sucks

... both because it was rushed, and because it's a vampire. Get it?

... get it? Yeah? *cough*

Okay, so anyway. I've been wanting to draw more monsters and stuff, but I've actually had to WORK at work, so I haven't had much time. This guy didn't come out quite the way I had hoped, but I wanted to post SOMETHING and it just gives me an excuse to draw him again. It was a Learning Experience.

After you click on the thumbnail below for a larger image, you should click this link for some Science on vampires, and more information on what your government is doing about them.

His Gyroscopic-Aether-Subordination Pack Revolutionized Airborne Infantry

Time for more random role-playing characters! This one is actually mine, although I might have to post another of Kevin's (and then Adam's, and then Eden's, and then Jaime's...) soon too.

Presented here for your perusal and academic edification: The honorable and oft-decorated Colonel Phineas Meriwether Hornsby IV, formerly of Her Royal Majesty's Thirty-Eigth Armored Zeppelin Division (now retired). You've seen his exploits in the penny dreadfuls of Mssrs. Barlow & Bartleby; his further adventures shall forthwith be published as a Brand X Brand Sequential-Image Narrative (patents pending). You will marvel at Hornsby's immeasurable talents as tracker, scout, hunter, man's-man and man-about-town, now put to use as a freelance finder of artifacts and antiquities from long-ago and never-have-been. He is a keeper of arcane truths and an archaeologist of the most bizarre. Gaze upon his works, ye mighty, for a mere shilling a view.
Or, click on the thumbnail below.

I Saw The Thing Comin' Out Of The Sky...

I love the month of October; I'll be drawin' stuff like this practically every day. I'll try to vary what I post, but this won't be the last monster you see (most likely this will be the last one-eyed, one-horned, flying one though).
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Hydraulic Humanoid from BEYOND

Robots are fun to draw, but their innards are a pain to design (especially on the fly). Doesn't stop me from enjoying the challenge though. This was meant to be Aristotle Cooke's robot assistant and bodyguard; he may still end up serving that function at some point. For now he's just fun to marvel at... for me, at any rate.
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Money, Women, & Cars

The Triad of True Male Happiness, or simply three things I never practice drawing? I'm sure scientists will be discussing this question for generations; in the meantime, here's proof I can draw the fairer sex every once in a great while. I already did a car and money takes forever to design properly, so this'll have to do.
Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

From Out O' The Black He Rode, A Stranger...

Yeah, I've been bad. It's been a WEEK since I posted anything, sorry. But I've got a great excuse: I started a new job! I'm a part-time language arts teacher at a great elementary school. I only work in the morning, so I can still tutor at night AND substitute on Fridays. I was a bit tired getting used to the new schedule, though, so I slacked off on posting.

I've been doodling, but I haven't really done anything I felt was worth posting until today. I posted this a short time ago, and I've been itchin' to draw Kevin's character myself ever since. This is my first attempt, and I hope it's alright. I had to improvise on the boots a bit...

So Kevin, if you're reading this: This one's for you, dude. Keep creating these awesome characters for me to draw. And if you're not reading this: Dude, seriously, what the hell?

Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

This One Goes to Eleven

Here's the ridiculous rock-star wannabe I had hoped to post yesterday, for you to laugh at tonight. Not much to say about this, other than to state the obvious: Drawing silly hair, stupid pants, and HUGE boots is "FUN."

That, and I screwed up on the speaker.

Oh well. Click on the thumbnail for a larger view.

Maniacal Metal Monday Night

Alright, I was tired after workin' today and didn't get a sketch finished. The hair rocker I was preparing for y'all is still in my desk at work; hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this INSANITY that Ken found.

Laser gun-slingin', kung fu-fightin', mystical-mojo space cowboys fighting to insane "metal" music. This will either improve your life immeasurably, or destroy your MIND. Either way, PREPARE YOURSELF.

I seriously have NO IDEA exactly what the heck this is. I'm pretty sure it's the distilled essence of AWESOME.

Maynard's Bowsprit Ornament

Okay, I usually put somewhere in the blog "I'm happy with how this one turned out," because I so seldom actually AM. I'm a huge critic of my work, as most of you know already. Today, though... maybe it's the spirit of the holiday. Maybe I've reached a new artistic plateau. Maybe I'm an arrogant pirate at heart. I don't know.

I freakin' LOVE this one.

I wanted to post some older pirate sketches I'd done in the past, but they were too light to scan properly, so I drew this at work. Ol' Edward Teach, BLACKBEARD himself. Well, most of him anyway; I only drew his head. Which I didn't remember until later is terribly fitting, seein' as that was all Maynard left of the salty sea dog & terror of the high seas. So don't let the flaming wicks tied into his beard, his wild eyes, or his fancy hat scare ye'; click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Y'aar... and there be more t' come, lads and lasses. In honor o' this most auspicious day I'll be postin' more piratical-type sketches later this afternoon or evenin'. In the meantime, clickin' the picture above'll lead you to history on this most roguish of holidays. Yo ho!

"He's Just a Dude, Really"

Today's addition IS a sketch, but not one of mine. My good friend Kevin has allowed me to post this MOST-EXCELLENT sketch of his creation, Thomas Deckard, on my blog to share with all of y'all. Next to it is my digital ink-and-coloring of it. As I mentioned before, I'm trying to practice doing more of that to save me time at the drawing table (when I do eventually get back to it).

Deckard is a cool character Kevin runs with online; he's a retired Marshal makin' his way through the cosmos as best he can, tryin' to follow the straight-and-narrow when those around him can't even seem to find it. My friends always come up with great characters, and (if they'll let me) I'll try to ink-and-color, then show off, some more coming up soon. Click on the thumbnail for a larger view.

Ninjas, NOT Banditos

This is an older sketch (a Brand X Classic ^TM), but it's a theme I often go back to: Ninjas riding dinosaurs. This is different than the work of the folks at Dr. McNinja, who use BANDITOS riding Velociraptors. The other key difference, of course, is that Dr. McNinja's creator, Chris Hastings, can draw dinosaurs that look like ACTUAL dinosaurs. But I digress.

At some point I'd love to do something completely ridiculous comic-wise with these guys, but for now I'm content to keep them a fun running joke amongst friends. Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Dumb Muscle, Smartly Dressed

Not sure what I'll ever do with this guy, if anything, but he was sure fun to draw. It's always entertaining (to me at least) to take a big buff guy and put him in a suit. I usually draw those guys in torn t-shirts and biker jeans, so this is a bit of a departure. His anatomy is ridiculous, but when is that NOT true in my art? I go with it. Also, I stole his tie from Serenity's Dr. Mathias... but he's dead, so he won't care, right? Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Fuzz of The Future

I plan to start drawing some Commander X comics again soon, but I want to put more time and effort into designing their world first. One of the things I never liked about the "Fortune-Cookie Fiasco" was how little time I left myself to flesh out the world I had them running around in. The police cars that chased them were especially lousey, so I started there to have them ready for the next comic I needed them in. This was a quick sketch so I'm not too bothered that the lettering is crooked, but I'm going to have to try and make the next flying car I design look a little less like a DeLorean (the kids were very supportive and complimentary, though). Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

"How do I look?" "Like a hood ornament."

I did these sketches awhile back in the hopes that they might appear in the Comic-Con program this year (or some more finalized version of my take on Cliff Secord, anyway). Every year the Con organizers accept submissions for properties celebrating anniversaries that year, and this year was The Rocketeer. I ended up not submitting, though, when it was decided we wouldn't be going this time. I'm still happy with how the designs came out, though, and I may do something with 'em yet. Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

More Fedoras

Alright, again, NOT a sketch... but it was news to me and OH HOLY CRAP:



This is in addition to the actual LEGO sets being released early next year, which you can read more about here.

"Four playsets based on the classic trilogy are slated to launch in January 2008. Three sets based on iconic scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark include: Temple Escape ($49.99 USD) which brings the legendary rolling boulder scene to life in LEGO form as Indy faces spiders and poisoned darts in his search for the Golden Idol of Fertility. With Race for the Stolen Treasure ($29.99 USD), kids build two desert vehicles and recreate Indy's truck-hopping fight to save the treasure. Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb ($19.99 USD) recreates the eye-popping suspense of Indy rescuing Marion from slithering snakes in an Egyptian tomb. And based on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade action, Motorcycle Chase ($9.99 USD) depicts the scene where Indy and his father escape with the map to the hidden temple.

Four more constructible playsets based on the fourth movie will launch in May 2008, with suggested retail prices ranging from $9.99 to $79.99 USD."

1060 West Addison

So this isn't exactly a sketch... or completely NEW... but I was inspired and I went with it. I'm also hoping if I start responding to comments, you folks will continue to post 'em... so this one's for YOU, Mr. Adams.

I'm very pleased with how this came out, especially since I digitally inked the Brothers using my USB tablet and PhotoShop. I don't usually do that (this is the first time I've done it and been happy with the results). Quite a few web comics "pros" do it that way, though, so it's about time I practiced. As always, click the thumbnail below for a larger view.

It's 106 Miles to Chicago...

Yesterday, Tammy and her family were kind enough to invite me along to the Sunday Gospel Brunch at The House of Blues in Anaheim. Needless to say, it was RIGHTEOUS (literally and figuratively). In honor of this most-excellent experience, I thought I'd post a sketch I did at work a couple weeks back. One of my students was talking about The House of Blues, and the other kids at my table didn't know who The Blues Brothers were when I commented about them. I whipped up this quick sketch to educate 'em, seein' as how that's my JOB. Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Mr. Luthor

Not an original creation this time, but when I'm at work I usually don't want to think that hard. That being said, I actually DID put some effort into copying this one from the George Perez design. This was my first Lex Luthor, and even though I've grown to appreciate the scheming billionaire he's since become, there's something FUN about Superman fighting a bald super-genius in a bright green-and-purple suit. I don't try to understand it, I just embrace it. Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Aristotle Cooke

Since most of you have seen my other characters before, I thought I'd start by introducing one I think only a handful of you have seen: Aristotle Cooke. Aristotle captains the space freighter Argus and is my resident "mad-scientist type..." until I get around to creating the mad scientist I've been working on. He's a great pilot, a mechanical genius, and a bit of a "stuffed-shirt." He is my outlet for any (misguided) feelings of superiority I may at times experience and a great character to role play. Here's one of my earliest sketches of him; you can also see him in the title bar of this blog. Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

Welcome!

Welcome to the brand-new, completely official, soon-to-be-often-imitated-but-never-duplicated, Brand X Creations sketch blog! Since I haven't updated the actual Brand X site in months, I'm going to ease back into the online arena with this blog.

I'm planning to post a new sketch, comic, or other piece of art every day or so to keep me drawing... help keep me honest! Check back often and leave your comments. Thanks!