Tuesday, July 31, 2007

MY FIRST COMIC-CON!

[Nome]

Hey y'alls, Oliver here. Phew! So I survived my first Comic-Con ever, period and it was amazing! I didn't really get to do anything or see anyone cause I was booked all weekend at my table in artist's alley with commissions but that was my goal and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I met a lot of cool people and would like to thank everyone who bought a sketchbook or who just came by to chat. I would also like to thank the following people who commissioned me for artwork: Chris Mikkelson, George Moorer, Kevin, John Faraci (who got 3 commissions), Leonard (who got his 3rd piece from me), Sarah (who got two commissions), Michael and Marty, Dennie, Kirk (who got his second or third piece from me...), Ruth Cook, and Olivier Delflas who purchased an original piece. Some of you also purchased art but I never wrote down your names, sorry and thanks again!

This piece I posted was a con pickup of "Jakita" from Planetary...my favorite WildStorm title of all time. I did it on 11x17 and inked it myself. Her skin tone was done with ebony pencil.

I'm really happy with this piece and it barely made it onto my latest sketchbook but I'm so happy it did.

Untill next time!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Best of the Blog!

[Eddy]

Our new GELATOMETTI: BEST OF THE BLOG" Sketchbook debuts at Comic-Con! It's 64 pages of our favorite posts here on the blog and limited to 1000 copies!

We'll all be in Artist's Alley throughout the weekend and I'll have the sketchbooks available first thing Thursday morning! Here's a list of where we'll be and there's a map below too:

Sandra Hope,KK-01
JJ Kirby,KK-02
Michael Lopez,KK-03
Oliver Nome,KK-04
Alex Sinclair,KK-05
Adam Archer,KK-06

Alé Garza,LL-01
Joel Gomez,LL-02
Ryan Benjamin,LL-03
Carlos D'Anda,LL-04
Richard Friend,LL-05
Jim Lee,LL-06

It's always fun to meet people from the blog, so stop by and say "Hi!"

And for everyone who can't make it out to San Diego, we'll take orders AFTER the con, so please check back here for more info!

Comic-Con here we come!!!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Visual Cues for San Diego comic con

(entry ricH)

Hey just to let people know who are coming by artist alley we have 6 nice big banners that will be up behind us for easy locating/ Each is spotlighting a different WS artist and they're pretty dang groovy.

Here's some visuals.

see you all starting tomorrow,

ricH

Monday, July 23, 2007

lookie lookie goodies for you cookies

[Kirby]

Yo, what's up folks. "Welcome to KIRBYLAND". MY first solo mainstream sketchbook. By now, y'all should know my formula "Fun, Love and Flava". That way the medicine tastes better :)

It would be "cool beans" if you guys showed some LOVE to my homies and I in artist alley. This year they stuffed us waayyyy in the back. Jim will be signing with us a few times and they had to account for crowded masses. The whole gang will be over there with all kind of goodies for you cookies. So follow the orange line on the map below to where the teddy bears are having their picnic.

Till next time "PEACE MY PEEPS".

Iron Gelatomettista Champ! - Francis Manapul

Everybody at WildStorm agrees - We hate Francis. (You better be careful at the con. There's FOUR of us.)

Congratulations!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Iron Gelatomettista - D'Anda's Hellboy!

Post a comment below to vote for Carlos D'Anda!

Iron Gelatomettista - Kirby's Hellboy!

Post a comment below to vote for J. J. Kirby!

Iron Gelatomettista - Lopez's Hellboy!

Post a comment below to vote for Michael Lopez!

Iron Gelatomettista - Manapul's Hellboy!

Post a comment below to vote for Francis Manapul!

Iron Gelatomettista - Nome's Hellboy!

Post a comment below to vote for Oliver Nome!

Iron Gelatomettista - Hellboy!

CARLOS "Dyno-MITE" D'Anda was a last-minute entry into the ring, so here are all five pieces side-by-side! (Don't vote here.)

Final voting ends at Monday, 12:00pm PST.

Iron Gelatomettista - Steel Cage Match!

Things are heating up at the studio, so to let off a little steam and get ready for the insanity of Comic-Con next week, we've got our first Steel Cage Match here at the 'metti!

Four men will enter and only one will come out victorious!

JJ "The Fresh One" KIRBY
MICHAEL "Boom-Boom" LOPEZ
OLIVER "Fierce" NOME and
FRANCIS "Undefeated" MANAPUL

Francis was the first one to enter the 'metti challenge way back in January '05 and has gone on to win his second battle to remain undefeated. Can he do it again?

Will Iron Gelatomettista rookie-winners, Oliver and Michael make a repeat?

Or will JJ finally win after losing one,two,three,four times?

Post ONE character you'd like to see them all draw and they'll enter the ring at 5:00pm today to see who comes out on top!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Mischief

[Eddy]

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #6 hits stores next Wednesday, just in time for Comic-Con!

And here's a six-page preview for those who just can't wait!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Nico sporting "House of Nome Haute Couture"

[Nome]

Hello everyone, Oliver here. Here's my version of Nico from "Runaways" that I did for Chris Mikkelson to pick-up at Comic-Con. I stayed after hours last night and did the piece from start to finish and I'm really happy with it. I love "Runaways" and having the chance to draw my favorite character from the team was a lot of fun.

I wanna thank Chris for his support too. I met him at WonderCon and then Wizard World L.A. and he's purchased commissions from me at both shows.

Thanks again Chris, see you and everyone else next week!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Toxin

[Lopez]

Hello everyone, this was actually a piece that I did awhile back that was used for a trading card for Upper Deck. I like it because of all the red, simple as that. I am a huge fan of old comics and all the red reminds me of Amazing Spider-Man #50, "Spider-Man No More", check it out.

The comics from this period inspire 90 percent of my work today. It's very clear and clean and easy to look at. The character itself was a lot of fun too. I don't have a chance to do a lot of Spidey characters, but if I had a chance I would do another Toxin piece.

Anyhow, hope everyone digs it! See you next time, Mike

Monday, July 16, 2007

Help support the CBLDF!

Thanks to everyone's support, the CBLDF had a great turnout for their auction and now you can go here to start your bidding on some great items like this Harvest Moon Print by Paul Pope!

Thanks again!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Catnip

[Nome]

Hey y'alls, Oliver here. I'm so excited about Comic-Con in two weeks! It'll be my first time ever attending and I'll be there with Jim and the rest of WildStorm too!

Anyhoo, in-between all of the things I'm working on here at the studio, commissions and trying to finish new sequentials, I've been trying to get as many pieces done as I can for the show like this Catwoman.

I wanted to do a fun piece and did my take on her costume. Hope you like and see y'all at the show!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

An Open Letter to my fellow professionals and comics fans...

[jimlee]

To my fellow professionals, artists and comic book fans--

In comics, we're always telling stories about people in life-threatening situations. That's thrilling in a comic book, but in real life it's the scariest ordeal you can imagine. Right now Gordon Lee, a retailer in Rome, GA, is facing the fight of his life. This August he will finally stand trial against two counts of distributing harmful to minors materials. He faces penalties of up to a year in prison and fines of up to $1,000 on each count if convicted. Gordon has been fighting to prove his innocence for almost three years. Fighting through being overcharged with two felonies and five misdemeanors, most of which were later thrown out. Fighting though the prosecution throwing out and refiling their case because the day before the trial they discovered that their facts were wrong. And now fighting against two remaining charges that are completely meritless. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has taken up the fight for Gordon, and now we need to help them finish that that fight.

Right now, I'm asking you to join me in supporting the CBLDF's work on this case. To date they've spent nearly $80,000 defending Gordon, and they expect the trial to cost another $20,000 on top of that. To ensure that they have the cash on hand for Gordon's August trial, and to shore up their reserves for what could be a very litigious Presidential election year, they need our donations now.

Please join me in supporting the Fund by making a donation of cash, original art, high-grade comics, or even some of your time (like I did in 2003 when I did a signing at Defender of Liberty recipient Chuck Rozanski's Mile High Comics as part of a CBLDF benefit auction). It's up to those of us who rely on comics for our living to stand behind the Fund in protecting our own. The Fund needs all of our support to win this case, where a conviction won't just harm Gordon, but its precedent could affect all of our livelihoods.

To donate art or collectibles for the Comic-Con auction, please send an email to cbldf1@gmail.com to let them know what you are contributing. If you have it available, include a jpg of your donation so they can list it in their auction preview online. You can see my donation--a penciled promo piece of Batman for the upcoming DCU MMO--alongside this message.

To donate money, go to Donations-CBLDF. To make sure that the Fund can include your donation in their Comic-Con auction preview, please be sure to get in touch with them with a jpg no later than Sunday, July 15. You can send the physical piece to their office until July 20th, or deliver it to them onsite at Comic-Con.

Please join me in helping the CBLDF raise the resources it needs to win this important case. If you have questions or to let the Fund know what you're sending, email Charles Brownstein or Greg Thompson at cbldf1@gmail.com or call them at the CBLDF office -- 212.679.7151. And please send your contributions to CBLDF, 271 Madison Ave, Suite 1400, New York, NY 10016 and tell them that I sent you!

Thanks for joining me in support,

Jim Lee

Monday, July 09, 2007

All Star Batman and Robin 8 pencils

[jimlee]

Here's the update on All-Star Batman and Robin news as far as I know:

The next bimonthly issue of ASBR issue 6 ships Wednesday, July 25th--that's the Wednesday before the San Diego Comic Con.

Here's a peek at a page from issue 8. Unfortunately, I had other pages last week but they all had spoilers all over em so here's a generic shot, although this one even has a clue on it heh.

I know you WildCats fans are DYING for an update...so am I! As soon as I have more script to draw, I will let you know the details. I am still committed to doing my run with Grant and I will be seeing him at SDCC to figure how we can we can recover and get it back on track like ASBR is.

Stay tuned...

Friday, July 06, 2007

Super Grifter

[Eddy]

Jim got a chance to do a few sketches after signing all day for a LONG line of fans at SuperCon. I remember that line just never ending too. As soon as the line started dwindling down, more people would just hop in and keep it going. The average wait was about an hour, but it felt like it was all over in no time.

He was already a minute into this Grifter sketch before I remembered my camera could take videos and it was another two minutes before I discovered the zoom feature too. Michael Bay here I come!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Deadlines

(Carlos)

... as I have said before, there is nothing BETTER for creativity sometimes than a really crappy deadline!!! ...I had to turn this cover around FAST, I think I penciled and inked it one night, AND colored it the next day in about one hour, maybe two! ...I had to be smart with my time, so I REALLY had to edit my thinking and streamline the whole thing.

As anybody that knows me, I tend to OVERTHINK my work a lot of the times, and because of that, it can be either too busy, or well, over-thought... in this case I didn't have that luxury, so I approached this thing more like 'graphic design' than anything else, and the colors in the same way.

Brian (Azzarello) and I agreed early on using the two 'Deathblow stripes' as a unifying element on ALL the covers, and this one was giving me a hard time at first... should it be graffiti on the backwall? Maybe he has two wounds and the blood..? etc etc... then I realized that the lasers would be a perfect excuse to create the iconic lines.

This is probably the cover that I'm he most satisfied with so far, so once again, a damn, evil deadline was my best friend! (^_^)

Take care y'alls!

Carlitos.