Gomez - Nightmare on Elm Street #4

[Joel]

Hey all, just thought I would finally post and tell you guys a little history as to how I came to the Wildstorm family. Originally, I started my career at Top Cow productions as a marketing intern where I managed to successfully show my stuff to several staff artists there that needed help with their books-mainly doing backgrounds.

The experience on those first projects extended my working relationship to a lot of different artists who were pressed for time. I had assisted on everything from Witchblade, Tomb Raider, and Evo to Marvel Knights Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men to a short stint on Soulfire. All the while I had kept in contact with the Wildstorm crew and had been lucky enough to visit the studio once or twice, always feeling that there was a level of quality and professionalism there that I strived for.

In 2005 while I was working on Soulfire, I began to work with Francis Manapul and video game super guru Jason Rubin (creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter for Playstation) on the development of his latest property, Iron and the Maiden. When I met with Jim Lee at WizardWorld's 2005 Los Angeles show I got the opportunity (thanks Ale!) to show Jim my work and the rest, as they say, is history!

Next, I plan to post how I worked with all the great artists here at Wildstorm to develop my approach to this book. I would also like to thank Alé, Carlos, Richard, JJ, Sandra, Eddy, and Ryan for making me feel welcome. I would especially like to thank the main man-Jim Lee for giving me a chance. Thanks, man.

And please keep an eye out for Nightmare On Elm Street #4, my first fully-penciled project due out in January.

Lastly, for all you aspiring artists...I never got many opportunities when I started chasing this dream, I created opportunities by becoming a team player and servicing the deadline. I made sure to be timely and take anything I could.

Be hungry and good luck!

JOEL

A Close Shave

[Carlitos]

…So, Deathblow #2 comes out tomorrow and, for any of you that liked the first issue, I think you’ll really dig this one as well. I felt more comfortable and happier with the art, and the story is starting to get fleshed out in ways that I sure as hell wasn’t expecting…. Heheheh. Let me tell ya’, that Azzarello guy is crazy and looooves his curve balls. It’s pretty damn enjoyable to get his scripts and see just what he’s doing to poor ol’ Mr. Cray. (^_^)

…Anyway, very much in the same way as the first cover, Brian had a pretty good idea of what he wanted on this second one as well, so I did a few ‘takes’ on it, and these here are two of ‘em. The final piece always changes a bit (I hate drawing the same exact thing twice ‘cause it bores me to tears), BUT the overall idea remains, just with some tweaks here and there. I still don’t have a whole lot of color work under my belt, so I still get intimidated a bit by it (so many damn choices!!!), BUT I was happy with the overall mood on this one…There are always things that you wish you could go back and change, BUT I think that’s one of those things that ALL artists have to deal with. Sometimes you just have to know when to let a piece go, and more times than not, those are the evil, bastardly deadlines! (^_^)

…Alright y’alls, for those of you kind enough to get Deathblow tomorrow, let me know what you think.

By the way, I was really looking forward to the convention this weekend, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it because deadlines have my ass glued to the drawing table. (x_x)

Carlitos

Hey kiddies...

[ale]

Hey yo kiddies! Just wanted to come and announce that I, kinda like Richie, have started my own little blog! Checkitout!

Ale Garza

Looking forward to seeing ya all over there! WOOT!

-a
PSHOO!PSHOO!

Christos Gage Signing! - December 3, 2006

[Eddy]

The big WildStorm signing is this weeked at the Shrine Auditorium for December 3rd's Los Angeles Comic Book Convention and StormWatch:PHD writer, Christos Gage will be joining us!

Christos has really breathed life back into the StormWatch crew with a mix of old and new characters along with Doug Mahnke, so it'll be great to have him join us for the show. And check out some of his script for the first issue, plus commentary on Newsarama.

Above are all three covers by Doug Mahnke and Trevor Hairsine, respectively, so bring one or all three to get signed!

Top ten things we're doing when we're not blogging

10. Food coma
9. Watching Michael Richards self-destruct
8. Listening to Aloe Blacc
7. Updating applications to the Amazing Race and Survivor for the tenth time
6. Gay clubbing
5. Watching movies (The Departed, The Prestige, Borat, Casino Royale)
4. Damn Splinter Cell
3. Searching for fashionable size 5 shoes
2. Watching Peter Jackson DVDs
1. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines

A brand new day...

[ale]

So I was thinking, again, I know, scary... Anyway, I was thinking about what an exciting time it is in comics now. We may have, at this point in the industry, more talented people putting together projects than anytime in the past.

From Joe Mad coming back, to the occasional Travis Charest sketch that's dropped every once in awhile, it is a great time to be a fan of comic book art. I mean, how kick ass is it going to be seeing J. Scott Campbell and Jeph Loeb doing Spidey? I know I can't wait. Ed Mcguiness, Frank Quitely, Chris Bachalo, Leinil Yu, all these amazing artists putting out amazing work on the regular.

There's even an influx of new talent that promises to keep the good stuff coming! Guys like Karl Kerschl, Mark Brooks, Oliver Coipel, Ivan Ries, all these guys provide some of the coolest stuff you can see in the comic format!

I haven't even mentioned our own head cheese here, Jim Lee, working on two books at the same time?! Or all the other talented mo fo's around here, each with our own little suprises in store! I myself have a plum gig coming up (more info on that a bit later).

All in all though it's exciting, not only to be working in this industry, but to also still be a fan of these little things we call comic books...werd...

-a
"and that's why you leave a note!" PSHOO!PSHOO!

Lee - The Fountain

[Eddy]

Jim created this illustration inspired by Darren Aronofsky's upcoming movie, THE FOUNTAIN, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Here's his quote from The New York Times:

“I think they’ve created a film which every reviewer is going to bring their own interpretation of it,” said Mr. Lee, who focused on the couple central to the film’s plot. “My comic book work, I normally do superheroes, so I tend to keep it really slick so the line work is smooth,” he said. “This artwork I wanted to have an edge to it, so I used a croquill pen. It gives you a much cruder line. I wanted it to seem more spontaneous.” Choosing an image was not hard for the artist. “If anything, it was a turning down process to focus on one image,” he said. “It was interesting that no one repeated a thought.”

To see Alex Sinclair's colors, click here.

Ten other comic artists were also invited to create their pieces, including Phil Hale, James Jean, Bill Sienkiewicz and the late, Seth Fisher.

WildStorm Signing! - December 3, 2006

[Eddy]

I love going to comic book conventions. I get to look for back issues to fill in that hole in my collection, hang out with friends and best of all, meet my favorite creators. And if I'm really lucky, I might even get a great sketch to take home too!

Well, now I'm friends with some of my favorite creators here at WildStorm and we'll all be hanging out at the Shrine Auditorium for December 3rd's Los Angeles Comic Book Convention.

So bring your favorite comics to get signed, take some pics and maybe even get a sketch or two from:

Adam ARCHER - Friday the 13th
Ryan BENJAMIN - Iron Man, Phantom Guard
Carlos D'ANDA - Outsiders, Deathblow
Rich FRIEND - Wetworks, Batman: Confidential
Alé GARZA - Batgirl, Skye Runner
Joel GOMEZ - Nightmare on Elm Street
Sandra HOPE - Justice League of America
JJ KIRBY - Backlash, DV8
Dustin NGUYEN - Batman, Manifest Eternity
Whilce PORTACIO - Wetworks, Batman: Confidential

Seeya there!

detailing 2

(entry ricH)

Here's another piece.

This was the preview and cover image for issue 1. This piece had to be edited for the mild monster nudity....so you can also catch a peep of some boobage. It's pretty tame really. I always find it interesting that extreme graphic violence is ok in the United States.....but hide those nipples!

anyway. Again this piece has a ton of detail, now with the "magic" of the internet..you can see the whole thing after I got my hands on it. Lots of tiny details and little places to get lost in. Lots of different textures, and objects to work with. I spread this piece out over a few days. I wanted to enjoy the process so I would ink a few hours on this and then work on something else. I don't normally work that way but if I have the luxury..I take advantage of it.

large scan might take a moment to load. Both new WW scans are off the original boards for even extra high quality viewing here.

r~

detailing

(entry ricH)

Here's an interior from WW #2. It's always interesting to see what you turn in and how it reproduces in the comic. Sometimes you get word ballons over things, other times special effects take out some line work that you've done, other times color can overwhelm or consume little details. I normally don't worry too much about it....it's part of the biz....and I am pretty used to it.

Wetworks 2 was pretty dark. I worked hard on a lot of the little things only to discover I couldn't see much of it...again part of the biz. Cool thing is...with the internet. You can always show it later.

So here's one that has a lot of work that is now presented in a way where you can really see the detail.

the scan is pretty huge so it might take a sec to upload.

r.