[ale]
Could'nt find a full figure shot so this'll have to do. Had a blast drawing this guy in the next 2 following issues of Batgirl. 64 really came out nice! It's just one big fight scene, with one of the most dramatic endings ever! You guys wouldn't believe the stuff Anderson has in store for our little Cass. Lets just say over the next few months, we'll be "preying" she gets through it all, lol!
-a
" I once saw a guy lift a can of paint with his" PSHOO!PSHOO!
[jimlee]
Here is a scan of one of the Batman and Robin covers in progress. On
something this complicated to avoid over-smudging the piece, I put down all
the important lines down with a bit harder F grade lead. Once the structure
lines are down, I use a HB grade lead to lay down my shadows moving left to
right.
Then I go back in with a sharp HB pencil, usually a .3mm or .5mm mechanical
pencil (to save time resharpening all the time) and make all my shadows and
smudges into "something." It can be little AC units or water towers or
windows on the buildings but the idea is to play with contrast, black and
white, and detail and pattern.
As I move left to right, I tighten up all the linework on the figure as
well, highlighting the angles and emphasizing lineweights where needed to
separate planes. Then I redid the process all over again with the Batman
cover.
Here is a closer look.
[ale]
Was wondering if you guys know those little stick figure family decals people put on their rear windshield windows? Well, my niece Lacey, has started a venture of sorts to do her version of that same thing. She was telling me how those decals could be so much cooler, and more unique. Her idea actually sounded pretty good, so with my help I'm trying to get her started.
I'm lending a hand with the little body drawings, and I've showed her how to bring her idea to life through photoshop. She's starting off small, but I really like to show my kids the same kind of support my parents gave me when I was her age. So above is a sample of the kinda window decals she wants to do. You can order your whole family or just do one of yourself. She also will offer the imagers for iron on transfers for clothing. Just a kid showing some interest in business.
If you're interested, her new company can be reached at lbombdesigns@hotmail.com for any questions you may have.
-a
"I believe the children are our future, lol" PSHOO!PSHOO!
[entry: jimlee]
Been working like crazy recently. Not drawing per se but moving boxes. On
the homestretch of our move back into the home (it seems neverending
honestly) and I had to take a break from it cause of Superman deadlines and
traveling. But now is the time to rescue my family from the towering stacks
of books, art supplies and old electronic equipment!
As far as art, here is an old image I dug up. I occasionally do art for
family and friends, logos for my wife, etc. This piece however is for a
family friend who was a fan of Alice in Wonderland and was expecting their
first child. I deleted the name but it goes in that middle rectangle right
under the square where one would put a picture of baby I imagine. Set
within a black frame, it turned out ok.
The challenging part was interpreting some of Lewis Carroll's characters and
not make them terrifying to a little child. He had some imagination...or
was whacked out of his mind. Crazy book.
Here is a larger scan.
[jimlee]
Here is the finished piece in watercolor. Not quite Arthur Rackham but I wanted something fairly kid-friendly and light and delicate. I used a .25 Koh-I-Noor to ink everything after I applied the watercolors with a #3 brush.
This piece actually took me longer than my typical superhero pencil work! Mostly because I had to pause and think about my approach at every step of the process. I think I could have spent many more hours just doing character design--that's how trippy these characters are.
Here is a larger scan.
[ale]
Went and hit up the karaoke spot last nite. Hits for the night included Tainted Love by Soft Cell, I Want you to Want Me by Cheap Trick, Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, and Twist and Shout by The Beatles. Needless to say I brought the house down, lol!
-a
"The doctor said me nose would stop bleeding, if i just stopped sticking my finger up there"
PSHOO!PSHOO!
[jimlee]
Here is an aborted watercolor I started about 2-3 years ago. Found it in a pile of art I unearthed when I was unpacking my stuff back into my house. Watercolors are supposed to be light, translucent and ethereal and to get this image to where I think it needs to be, I need to go more in opaque, acrylic direction. Especially since I want to make her pants a nice shiny black leather. Look at this version as the basetones. I need to darken a lot of the shadows and diffuse the edges.
My goal is to work on this a bit here and there and post the evolving image. Some of the changes I can do in photoshop but I need to finish adding some inks and textures and then balance out my colors.
To be continued.
[ale]
A little tidbit of inside info on me.
For the past 4 years now I have been coaching soccer. heh, it's quite funny when you think about it because i never really played the sport growing up. I began coaching simply to spend time with my kids. As it's turned out, I have now become a regular on the sidelines, and is each season called upon to help out. It's pretty crazy because I basically had to take crash courses on what it is to play soccer. Since then, I've grown to really love the sport and appreciate what a difficult game it really is. I never pictured myself as a coach growing up, but now there is no other alternative. It's great being able to motivate the kids, and share this experience with them. It's awesome to see a child go from not having ever played the game, to grow, and become a skilled player. my daughter Brittany has been playing since she was barely 5, at 8 she's one of the best defenders in the divison. It's an honor to donate my time to these kids, and I can't picture any better way to spend my saturday
mornings.
-a
"how do u figure boy?" PSHOO!PSHOO!
[ale]
Finished my page a bit early tonight. i still felt like doodlin', heh. Earlier in the day I was able to pick up Lee's latest ish of Luthor. I must say, that boy is doing some spanktastic stuff! So with these little sketches I guess you could say I had some of Lee's inspirado poppin' off.
Aside from that I'm still chuggin away on Batgirl. With the solicitations just released some have asked why I've missed two issues in a row. Well, just to stay ahead of the game I jumped right to issue 67 after I finished ish 64. The good thing is I jumped right into drawing some pretty ladies! I apologize for not being able to go faster for you guys, but hopefully you'll enjoy the issues I did do.
Also watched Sideways tonight while working. Great movie! I strongly suggest checking it out. It's pretty damn hi-larious! Peace out yo!
-a
"ewwww, I got some on my hands..." PSHOO!PSHOO!
[entry: jimlee]
Here is an incredible painting (seen bigger here) fellow Korean artist David Choe (his site) did over a printout of my pencils for the cover to Superman #214.
I just love it. It's different and I am sure not every fan will feel the same way but I love the energy, the colors, the intensity most of all.
In general, David's typical work is difficult to describe; part graphitti, part porno, all out passion. Some of you may be familiar with his work as David just recently did the cover art for the latest Linkin Park and Jay-Z album.
He is and has been a huge comic fan and over the years, we have become friends and try to get together several times a year. One time, we happened to be in NYC at the same time, and I got a chance along with Ale, Lee and Carlos to see David paint live on a giant wooden board in front of an audience at a church/dance club. Another time, we were all hanging out in my backyard, talking art as I grilled burgers and pulled out old art from my art collection.
Anyway, he did this for the hell of it but I like it so much that I have to figure out a cool project to do together. I think the style would better suit a character like Batman, Deathblow or Constantine, no? The mind races with possibilities. I just need to find the time in the schedule...
[ale]
First off thanks to everyone for their comments! You guys are the best fans a guy could ask for :)!
Well my new son is officially 3 days old and I no longer have an excuse for not working, lol! So today back to the grind. Warmed up with a little doodle of Bats and Robin in honor of Jim's upcoming new title. I love drawing Robin! As you may notice I tweaked the way I drew him from when I previously drew him in Batgirl. Kept the eye mask shape, but made the eye holes a bit smaller. Also I bulked up his padding a bit. As for Bats...Well, for me, Batman is a constant work in progress. He is my everest of sorts. Only recently have I found a way of drawing him that I'm comfortable with. I like to keep him bulky, and round-headed. The funny thing is as hard as it is for me to be satisfied with the way I draw him I still would like to someday draw the book, heh! Anyways just a warmup, hope ya guys dig, and thanks again!
-a
" :) " PSHOO!PSHOO!
[entry: jimlee]
Soooo the solicitations are finally out and it looks like I have a bunch of stuff coming out in July. Not only the second half collection of Superman: For Tomorrow (link) but also an oversized Absolute edition of the entire Hush run.
It was put together by the same designer (Robbin Brosterman) who did all the Hush collections so far and I hope I do not sound like I am bragging when I say it is killer. It's got so much cool stuff in there that it has to be the definitive edition for the series.
Most everything in it is new from new art for the endpapers, back cover, front cover (pictured above and seen larger here) and has the complete Easter Egg rundown on all 12 issues plus new sketches, never before seen deleted/altered art and layouts and a new interview with Jeph Loeb and me. I've been waiting on this one forever; I just hope it comes out before SDCC--would be fantastic to share it with everyone at the nation's biggest con.
Last but certainly not least, there's Batman and Robin: the Boy Wonder. The two covers are shown here in pencil form (the finals will be inked and colored of course). It was a bear of a challenge and the funny thing is that the Robin one took nearly 3 times as long to pencil as the Batman one for a number of reasons which I will get into in a later post. Here are the links to large images of both--here and here.
Both Batman: Hush and Superman: For Tomorrow launched in offpeak times. Batman in the fall after all the major cons and Superman in March last year before the con season started. Batman and Robin falls smack dab in the middle which should make this SDCC crazier than normal.
Can't wait.
Wanted to announce the latest arrival to my band of rogues... Introducing Mason Ryan Garza, born at 1:13pm, Thursday April 7th, he wieghed in at 8lbs 9 oz, and measured in at 21 in! Needless to say we are all excited to have such a wonderful addition to our family! Both Mother, and Son went throught the process without a hitch! Expect him in the wizard top ten in say about 18 years, lol.
-a
"one for the road..." PSHOO!PSHOO!
[entry: jimlee}
So I am back in San Diego after an eventful and incredibly busy trip to NYC. The Sin City premiere was a fantastic gathering bringing together so many of the great names in comics together under one roof to celebrate the accomplishments of one of our brightest stars and the Big Apple Con was a chaotic whirlwind of signing and posing (for pics) and sketching (though not many).
At the show, one of the coolest things I got were these homemade trading cards. I should really put homemade in parentheses because the design and layouts are very professionally and thoughtfully done. Each card had a unifying look to em with a shot of art, usually taken from the Metti site and the backs had quotes from either the site or from various interviews with an appropriate mugshot. Apparently they were printed out on card stock at a local kinkos type shop which goes to show you how far desktop publishing has come. These look and feel incredibly authentic.
Unfortunately in the chaos of it all, I mislaid the creator's name but I know he is a Mettitista so please step forward and take a bow. All the artists were flipping over these when I brought em to the studio so thanks for your efforts. We are always impressed with how passionate and industrious the fanbase can get over comics and this certainly proves the rule.
Here's a closer look at the front and back.
[ale]
Way back when I was a young lad of only about 18. One day while strolling about my local mall I was approached with a top notch offer. That's right, I Ale Garza had been offered the glamorous world of print modeling! It just so happen that the agency offering, was the world reknowned modeling house... Barbizon! They told me the skies the limit! That doors would be opened for me! Superstar actors would be envious! And I ultimately would be famous!
I know what you're thinking. What about this is there to regret? Well you see for all those jewels of splendor they told me i would attain, it would cost me an initial fee of somewhere around 200 dollars. A fair price for fame and fortune don't you think? The only thing I regret is not taking them up on their offer. I mean looking back, it's amazing the world that could've been waiting for me. I mean that could've been me as the foriegn kid on That 70's Show. Or me modeling those boxer briefs in those Mervyn's ads.
Well, you win some and you lose some, for me I guess missed this gravy train of oppurtunity.
-a
"holy crap, it's purple!" PSHOO!PSHOO!
[jimlee]
OK now I've done it. Today I made a young girl fan cry (she was in her
early 20's). Not tears of joy, but because I had upset her.
Not my proudest moment at the Big Apple Con. It's a rather involved story
and I'm jamming on some pages tonight before I head back to the convention
here in New York City for the last day so I can't elaborate too much on it
now.
Stay tuned for details.
Life lessons I am sure for everyone involved--certainly for myself.
[ale]
As promised I got a scan of one my commisions from last months Wiz LA show. This customer actually had waited since Wondercon for one, since my list had been full by the time he got to me there. Luckily he showed up early at the Wiz show, and put it in a request for good ol' Supergirl (link.) I got to say she is one fun character to draw, so cute, and powerful!
This one like the others was on 11"17" done with brush pen, and some warm greys here and there for effect, enjoy...
-a
"best movie ever" PSHOO!PSHOO!
[ale]
Just wanted to let you guys know... It would seem that thanks to this earlier posted piece, I have landed a 6 issue run on Wonder Woman! I'm so excited I could pee myself! I'm so looking forward toworking with the writer, it's going to be a blast. Look for my run to begin sometime early next year!
-a
"snoopy" PSHOO!PSHOO!
[jimlee]
Wow...wore the dark socks to the Sin City premiere and man, what a difference that made. Everyone was giving me a completely different look, I got a raise from Dan Didio and I even got a very interesting voicemail from some O'Brien guy telling me how f-ing hot I was.
Weird night.
And I forgot to mention a ton of other people at the event--even people I spoke to at length (thankfully social maven Heidi MacDonald of the Beat has a sharper memory). Creators jetting in from England like Dave 'the Originals' Gibbons, Wizard ueber editor Brian Cunningham, DC con maestro Fletcher Chu-Fong, artist x-tradinaire John Cassaday and mutant master Chris Claremont. Also there was Image partner Erik Larsen and power attorney Harris Miller III.
Again as electic a gathering as one could imagine. Frank referred to us all as 'tribe' and I think that accurately summed it all up.
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