Joshua Middleton Online

Unfinished

2011-11-26T01:49:00.000-08:00

Once again, it has been too long since my last post. That means I've been working too much on stuff I can't share and not drawing anything new that I can share. Well, I have to move that Dragonborn post down the page somehow, so here are a couple of sketches I came up with a while back but never finished.

I drew the Berry Faery several months ago. I remember feeling kind of down one evening when I was struggling to draw, so I abandoned whatever it was I was working on and picked up a new sheet of paper and sketched out the figure on this sketch without much thinking. To my surprise, she looked pretty good, so I quickly snapped a photo of the page with my iMac (didn't feel like messing with the scanner) and sketched in the rest of the concept digitally. I was all fired up to finish it when I hit a wall- I couldn't decide if I should attempt to paint the final piece traditionally (my initial instinct) or to just do my usual digital thing. I put it on the back burner and eventually abandoned it.

The Medusa was another misfire. The idea for a Medusa portrait just popped in my head one day, and I could see it pretty clearly. I drew the figure in pencil without reference, thinking I would get something stylish and pushed like the image in my mind, but much to my dismay, my pencil was stuck on "realistic" and I wound up with this boring portrait of some lady. I scanned it and tried to make it work in Photoshop, but only made it worse by adding more rendering and lighting to increase the photo-realism factor. It was going even more in the wrong direction, so I had to abandon it completely. There is just no way to "stylize" something after the fact. You have to go big in the first place and whittle it down.

Perhaps given the time and motivation I will revisit these two ladies, but for now, they are living on the island of misfit drawings.

On a side note, some folks have been asking about original art sales. I am working on a new online shop and hope to have it up soon. I'm going to be selling whatever remaining comic art I have, including covers and a few interior pages, along with some sketches and the like. I'm still figuring out the print situation, but hopefully I will be able to offer some prints, too. I'll post another notice when I get closer to putting the shop online, so interested parties should stay tuned.

Thanks as always for stopping by. I'll try to come back soon.

Dragonborn

2011-09-24T01:42:00.000-07:00

Once again, it has been too long. LEGEND OF KORRA is in full swing, so I am pressed for free time but I am loving every minute of it. I'll be talking about Korra plenty more in the future, but for now here is an image I don't think I posted yet. It is a book cover I did a while back for a new edition of DRAGONBORN by Toby Forward, which I understand is quite good, so I look forward to reading it once I get my hands on a copy.

For all of the nice folks who have contacted me over the last few weeks but did yet receive a reply, please accept my apologies. I am painfully behind on my e-mail, so it is going to take me a while to catch up. I'll do my best to get back to everybody eventually.

Thanks!

Legend of Korra

2011-07-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to say that I will soon be joining the incredible crew of Nickelodeon's forthcoming THE LAST AIRBENDER: LEGEND OF KORRA animated series. Here is the limited edition poster I drew of Korra astride Naga for San Diego Comic Con.

San Diego Comic Con

2011-07-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

While I am not exhibiting at SDCC, I am attending Fri-Sun. Just in case anybody is interested in saying "hello" and maybe twisting my arm for a quick sketch, you will at least be able to find me in one place for sure- I will be attending the Legend of Korra panel in room 6BCF at 4PM on Saturday. Look for my gleaming scalp in the front row.

Enjoy the show!

Working on the site

2011-05-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

Recent visitors may have noticed some goofy stuff going on with the website/blog, not the least of which is the fact that the blog and my main website have been combined into one main site at www.joshuamiddleton.com. I am still in the process of redesigning, so please bear with me while I clean up the place, add some new functionality, and break a bunch of stuff along the way.

The Gallery currently features my comic book covers, but will be expanding to include everything that was in the galleries on the old website, as well as some new stuff. I will post further updates as things progress.

Thanks!

Green Arrow

2011-05-23T04:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the covers for Green Arrow issues 13 and 14. I have included the issue 13 pencils and inks for those of you interested in seeing the progression. Once again, I tried to keep these fairly simple with traditional pencils, inks, and colors with more flat areas and cuts than soft edges.

I think that's enough of the superheroes. I'll post some of my own stuff next.

Wonder Woman 614

2011-05-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

I'm going to keep these posts coming with another Wonder Woman. This is the regular cover of issue 614. I tried to keep the colors simpler on this one- almost without exception, I prefer very simple colors with minimal rendering, yet I often forget that when coloring my own stuff. So, I made an effort on this one to focus on the drawing and palette, and to let the colors be more graphic without a lot of fancy light or effects. It was a nice break from all of the rendering and glow of the previous cover, Wonder Woman 613 (previous post).

I few folks have asked me if these DC covers mean I am coming back to regular comics work. No, not really- I have been working in animation since the end of 2009, and on my own projects, but I was able to complete a handful of covers for DC over the last few months. Along with the two Wonder Woman covers, I did two Green Arrows and a Batman. They almost led to a regular assignment, but sorry superhero fans, turns out it was just a brief visit to the old house.

I also drew a couple of fantasy novel covers along with the DC stuff, but I can't show those quite yet. I'll post them as soon as I can.

I'm currently sketching for myself, working on a couple of larger personal pieces, and generally trying to improve my traditional technique. If I get something good, I'll be sure to share it. That's a big "if" at the moment.

More Wonder Woman 613

2011-05-20T16:25:00.001-07:00

So here is a shot of me working out the drawing in blue pencil. I then went over it with regular graphite, and shaded the hair and background to create a basic texture. I did not shade the face, and instead did all of the rendering while coloring in Photoshop. That's an enlarged printout of my initial thumbnail sketch on the left. You can see where I used some markers to roughly work out how I wanted to render the lighting, which I kept in mind while drawing.

Since it was such a close-up shot, I worked at a slightly smaller scale than I normally would for a comic book cover to help me deal with the proportions.

Above is the final graphite drawing. Now, I know I said I didn't shade the face, but it looked unfinished, so I went back in with additional inkwash shading after the fact, just to complete the image. The paper I used wasn't really suited for this approach, but it was fun to do nonetheless.

Wonder Woman 613

2011-05-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

More of the lady

2011-05-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

Eye there

2011-05-03T04:05:00.000-07:00

Just a little note to let you folks know I haven't forgotten the blog. I'll be back with some news and some new images soon. Thanks!

Scarlet Witch

2011-04-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here is one more red sketch I neglected to post earlier- Scarlet Witch. It was done at the same time as the Poison Ivy and Red Sonja, and just like those two it is color pencil and marker.

I don't know anything about Scarlet Witch, but I had a lot of red markers and she was the only other red character I could think of at the moment. I probably should have stuck with a faerie or something. That'll be next.

Poison Ivy

2011-03-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a scan of another one of these color sketches, this time of Poison Ivy. Well, it really could be any red-haired nature girl, but the foliage is poison ivy, so I figure that's enough. Ivy was actually the first one I did, followed by a Scarlet Witch, and then the Red Sonja. Apparently, I like red.

Also posted is a scan of the Red Sonja, as requested in the comments. I couldn't quite capture the subtleties of the original with my scanner, which I now realize is not great at color images. I'll have to upgrade if I keep working in color. Damn.

Now that I am getting a little more comfortable with my materials, I plan on tackling some more involved subjects and more refined drawings. We'll see what happens.

I'll post the Scarlet Witch once I get a good scan.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Red Sonja

2011-03-19T00:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a Red Sonja I did in marker and color pencil. I've done a few of these lately to experiment, have some fun, and to see color on something other than a damn screen. I really enjoy working with real materials. While I love the perfect finish of the computer and rely on it to finish my images the way I usually see them in my head, getting there can be a grind- I can't tell you how many times I have wished I could just reach up to the screen and smudge something with my finger, or splatter some paint. Instead, I have to find a phony "splatter" brush. It is emasculating.

Even if I usually prefer digital colors on my own stuff, virtually all of my favorite artists worked with actual paint, so maybe I just need to practice more to get that flawless finish with real materials. Damn computer.

Emerald City Comicon

2011-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

I am happy to be attending Emerald City Comicon up in lovely Seattle, WA, March 4-6. The organizers of the show are really going all out and have put together a very impressive guest list. Check out their site and make your plans.

I'll be exhibiting at table B-05, and will have original art and prints available. I hope to see some folks at the show.

Meeting cover

2011-02-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

This is the cover for the forthcoming young adult fantasy novel MEETING by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, the sequel to THRESHOLDS, from Viking Press. I finished this several months ago, but had to wait to show it until the book was announced.

Enough time has passed that I don't remember exactly what I did to end up with this, but I know that I roughed it out in pencil, inked it, and went to town in Photoshop, and maybe a little Painter. I think I may have spent a little too much time in Photoshop-ville, trying to get a magical quality which I don't know if I nailed.

I remember going back and forth with the editor about the alien/light-being girl's eyes. Originally, I had them much more alien and luminous, but they were apparently too creepy and I was asked to make them more human. I probably liked the alien eyes better, but you can't get too attached to anything.

Having to occasionally make changes for editorial reasons has actually helped me a lot in not letting any part of a drawing be too precious to erase. It's hard to face facts and erase something that's not working, especially after spending a lot of time on it, but sometimes that's the best way to move forward and get the bad drawings out of the way. I still struggle with letting go sometimes, but I'm definitely more acquainted with my trash can than I used to be.

More soon!

2011 - Hello again!

2011-01-03T02:52:00.000-08:00

Well, 2010 was a pitiful year for blog posts. Sorry about that. It was a challenging year for me, having spent it (and the tail end of 2009) in a studio job. Fortunately for this blog, that little adventure has come to an end and I am back to working for myself, which means more regular posts, and most importantly, a return to full time illustration.

I've done a few book covers already, but I can't show anything quite yet, so I'll have to make do with some sketches, just to get things started.

Like most sketches, these were mostly made to figure something out- either a technique or whether or not I like a new pen, but every now and then I'll come up with a good one and forget what it was I was testing. I have one of those on my desk now, which I plan to take to a finish. I've even gone so far as to do a proper color comp, which I rarely did in the past. We'll see how it all turns out.

So, for 2011 I will be doing a lot of drawing. And while not necessarily a resolution, I do hope to improve my work in 2011, especially in the areas of color harmony and composition. I want to break some bad habits and work harder in the early stages of an illustration, so that I don't have to lean too hard on Photoshop. You really can't "fix it in post", so to speak.

Finally, for any original art collectors out there, I have an auction up for a Supergirl cover. I have a few more left and will be selling them off in the coming weeks.

As always, thanks to everyone who stops by this blog. I hope you all have great things in store for 2011.

Joshua

Long Beach Comic Con

2010-10-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

I will be attending the Long Beach Comic Con this weekend. I haven't sat down at a show for several years now, so I am really looking forward to it. I have a pile of art here collecting dust, so I'll have everything from sketches to covers for sale. If anybody plans on attending, please stop by and say hello. I'll be sitting at booth 2107 (which I believe is artist alley). I hope to see you there.

Anybody out there?

2010-09-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to say I am still here, and the blog is not dead yet, even if it has been in a coma for a while now. Hang in there, folks...if you're still there.

A God has died.

2010-05-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Frazetta 1928-2010

So long Supergirl

2010-04-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

Well, that's it. Supergirl issue 51 marks my final Supergirl cover, and my last bit of mainstream comic book work for the foreseeable future (even if I was just doing covers at this point). I have plenty of other stuff to keep me busy, and I want to dedicate every minute of my free time to personal work only, so the comic book covers had to go, bringing to an end, with a whimper, ten years of mainstream comic book work-for-hire.

From here on out I am going to redirect this blog to be an outlet for my personal work, and the things that inspire me. I will do my best to post something worthwhile whenever I can.

My deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported my comic book work over the last decade. Your comments and kind words have always been an inspiration, and I feel a real obligation to do my best for all of you, which is one more reason it was time to move on.

Now, I have some work to do.

Joshua

Supergirl 50

2010-02-26T01:06:00.000-08:00

Here is my cover for Supergirl 50. I started this one by coloring an extremely rough pencil sketch for editorial approval, thinking I would redraw the line art for a cleaner foundation to color later, but kept working on the original color sketch so much that it wound up being the final cover.

Supergirl is imprisoned in amber, which was quite difficult to render and have look right without obscuring too much of the figure or her colors. I didn't do much with the background either since it is largely covered by the logo and other type. I'm still not sure if I quite pulled it off, but I ran out of time and had to call the cover done.

I used both Photoshop and Painter for this one; Painter primarily for hair and washes of color on the figure, and Photoshop for everything else. I probably could have done it all in Photoshop with the same end result, but I do enjoy coloring looser drawings in Painter.

That's all for now.

Joshua

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths

2010-02-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it sure has been a while. I am very sorry for neglecting the blog for such a long time, but I have been extremely busy with all sorts of things, including a new job and moving to a new place. I am starting to get my schedule under control, so hopefully I can start posting here more regularly.

Here is the cover to Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, a Warner Brothers animated movie, available on DVD, Blu-ray February 23. The cover was drawn by Phil Bourassa with clean-up by Dusty Abell and colored by me.

I can only recall one other instance in which I colored another artist's work, which was a pin-up for Marvel a very long time ago, so this was a fun new challenge. Luckily, Phil and Dusty are both excellent artists, so my job was a lot easier. While I originally set out to color the drawing in a fairly straightforward cel-shaded style, we wound up going for a somewhat more painterly finish. My challenge was to render in such a way as to not overpower the clean line art. I colored with Photoshop CS4.

The film itself is excellent, so I highly recommend picking up a copy. I believe it is the best of the WB/DC Comics animated DVDs thus far. The official site has lots more info and imagery to enjoy.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I'll do my best to not keep you waiting so long next time.

Joshua

Supergirl 49

2009-10-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover for Supergirl 49. I am too busy at the moment to provide much commentary, but I will try to post some process shots and info when I have some more time.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Sämmtliche Gedichte

2009-09-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a cover I did a while back for Sämmtliche Gedichte, a German-language novel written by Dietmar Dath.

From the beginning, the author knew that he wanted a fairly straightforward shot of the Amelia Earhart-type character, so my thumbnails were basic compositional variations of this image. It was ultimately decided that I go for the most direct version.

When drawing an image like this, where there is one central figure with little movement and few background elements, the smallest details can significantly change the feel of the image. In this case, I recall a debate about how to direct the eyes- originally, I had her looking straight at the viewer, which can be engaging or even intimidating depending on the expression, but we decided it would be more in her character to direct the gaze slightly away from the viewer, creating a little distance.

The image was sketched in pencil, then inked with a brush and pen, and colored in Photoshop and Painter. I established the basic color design during the thumbnail stage, which is always very helpful since it can save a lot of time screwing around with colors in Photoshop when the deadline is creeping up. It is sometimes good to have a plan.*

Thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

*even if you choose to completely ignore it at least half of the time. Sometimes it seems my favorite plan is coming up with a new plan.

Supergirl 48

2009-09-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another Supergirl cover, issue 48, along with some process shots.

As you can see from the above thumbnail, the final image stayed pretty close to my initial concept. In fact, when I was adding some color to the thumbnail in Photoshop to submit for editorial approval, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to reproduce the "scream ring" effect on the final- I was just screwing around when I came up with it and couldn't remember exactly how I did it, but I liked it. My goal was to get the final cover pretty close to the thumbnail.

I agonized over how to draw the actual cover; I knew that it would technically be much easier to draw Silver Banshee and Supergirl on two different pieces of paper so that I could work with them separately in PS, but I would be sacrificing a nicer looking piece of finished art. In the end, practicality won, and I have yet another cover drawn in pieces. It was the right choice, however, because having Supergirl on her own layer floating over Silver Banshee allowed me to add all of the effects without having to make selections or deal with weird edges around Supergirl. I was also able to adjust Supergirl's size and position with ease since there was a complete background behind her, which is pictured above before making any adjustments. I drew Silver Banshee in blue pencil, then inked her with a brush and india ink.

Above is Supergirl as she was drawn on a vellum overlay. Vellum is like a heavy tracing paper, so the transparency allowed me to draw her basically where I wanted her over the background. Supergirl was first drawn with blue pencil on a sheet of vellum, then I laid another sheet on top of that and drew the final lines in ink with a pen. I could have just inked directly over the blue pencils, but I was really struggling with some parts of the drawing (including the skirt, as usual) and wound up with a lot of smeared pencil. Vellum is easily erasable, so pencils can smear, and sometimes ink doesn't want to stick. A fresh sheet took care of the problem.

The color was done in Photoshop, and I tried to keep it fairly simple. The most important part was getting the balance right between Supergirl and the black and white background so that the contrast is striking, yet reads well. I had to lighten the background a touch and added a little bit of a soft halo of white around Supergirl to help pop her off the background. After staring at it for a while and nearly getting dizzy, I decided it was done.

Thanks as always for stopping by.

Joshua

Supergirl 46 and 47

2009-09-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

I am very sorry for the long wait between posts. I'm still quite busy, but I hope to get back to more frequent posts soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of Supergirl covers. You already saw the Hamlet-themed one when I posted it a little too early for DC's taste and had to take it down a couple of months ago. Now that it is finally on the schedule as issue 47, you can see it again.

More soon.

Joshua

Thresholds

2009-07-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover for Thresholds, an upcoming book from Viking Press.

I worked out the basic concept and color palette with a digital sketch in Photoshop, then drew the cover in pencil, scanned it, and colored it using the initial sketch as a foundation. I worked primarily in Photoshop, with a little bit of Painter here and there.

That's all for now.

Joshua

Shop is open

2009-06-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

The shop is now open on the revamped Joshua Middleton Online. There is a selection of original art available at every price point, and the prints are coming soon- I am setting up a new production to produce the finest quality prints available.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joshua

Supergirl 45

2009-06-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover for Supergirl 45. I will try to post some process shots in a future post. For now, enjoy the final image!

Joshua

Website relaunch

2009-06-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

Joshua Middleton Online has been revamped and relaunched. The final touches are being put on the shop, which should be up and running within a week or so, and more content will be added in the coming weeks. In the meantime, feel free to poke around the rest of the site and let me know if things are running smoothly.

More fun stuff soon,

Joshua

Sidebar Interview

2009-06-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of posts, but once again, I am a little too busy to mind the blog. I'll be back soon with more art.

In the meantime, I recently enjoyed an extended conversation with the good guys at Sidebar, a fantastic podcast featuring interviews with all sorts of creative folks. I went on about all sorts of stuff, so if you have some time to spare, feel free to give it a listen. I apologize in advance for a few instances of profanity and various sweeping generalizations.

Sidebar Interview

Joshua

Wizard

2009-04-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Work is keeping me busy and away from the blog, so with apologies, here is a little wizard I sketched the other night for fun. He's not perfect, but I liked him enough to color him. And just to keep the process junkies happy: He was drawn in blue pencil on 8.5" x 11" copy paper, inked with markers, and colored in PS CS4.

I'll try to come back soon with a more substantial post, maybe with the finished cover for Supergirl 45 and some thoughts about the coloring process.

Thanks so much to everyone for the comments. I may not always respond, but I read them all and always appreciate your thoughts.

More soon,

Joshua

Supergirl 41 process pics

2009-03-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

I was shooting a little reference for my next Supergirl cover when I noticed these old process pics from 41 still on the camera. For whatever reason, I never got around to posting them, so here they are now.

As you can see, I drew this cover in blue pencil, a Prismacolor Col-Erase 20044 Blue to be exact. I don't always draw in blue nowadays- it depends on the piece and how I am feeling at the time. In this case, I knew that I would be drawing the final in ink, so I decided to go with the blue and then straight to pen, skipping the graphite pencil altogether.

In the second image the blue pencil drawing is nearly done, save for Supergirl's skirt, which can be difficult to draw, although I generally enjoy drawing drapery. Maybe it is because her skirt is too short to allow for many folds, or because I often have to bend the rules of physics to protect Supergirl's modesty, but for whatever reason, the skirt is often drawn last. As you can see, I drew her entire body even though the skirt will cover her pelvis- it is very important to always "draw through" your images. You can see that Supergirl's leg is drawn through Superwoman's body as well.

Here I am inking the blue pencils, though I don't mean "inking" in the traditional comic book sense, in that I am not going in with lineweights and spotting blacks. I was after a simple line drawing so that I could have plenty of room for color later, so I just drew the image in ink in much the same way as I would if I were using a graphite pencil. There are occasions where I will ink with lineweights and spot heavier blacks, but then I would probably use a brush. When I choose not to ink at all and draw the final in graphite, it is usually because I want to maintain a little more delicacy to the drawing while working on it. After scanning and adjusting, it doesn't really matter what I used to draw the image as long as the line quality is good.

The pen is a regular disposable technical pen, of which there are several good brands. Most popular is probably the Pigma Micron series, which I like, but sometimes hurt my index finger due to the way I grip the pen (my finger falls right on the seam where the pen tapers for the cap to fit). Staedtler and Copic also make good pens. I think I am using a Copic Multiliner here. As is always the case, the best tools are what works for you.

I hope these pictures are of some interest. If nothing else, they help give a sense of scale to the art. As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Supergirl 42

2009-03-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover for Supergirl 42. Supergirl is heading to the pink energy-domed city of Kandor. The logo and other trade dress will obscure a fair amount of Supergirl on the published comic, which was my intention.

I made several complete planets in separate files before combining a few to create the small portion seen here. Now I have plenty of extra planets should I need them.

Joshua

Fixed comments malfunction

2009-02-14T01:20:00.000-08:00

I just found out that the commenting function apparently hasn't been working properly. I tried to change the way comments were displayed when I changed the look of the blog a little while ago, but something obviously went wrong. I switched it back, which I believe fixed the problem, so hopefully anybody wanting to comment won't run into any more trouble. If anybody has anything they'd like to share about the last couple of posts, please feel free. It's beginning to feel lonely around here!

More art soon-

Joshua

Supergirl 41

2009-02-06T23:20:00.001-08:00

And here is the cover for Supergirl 41.

For whatever reason, the DC heroes always seem to beg for very saturated, pure colors. When I have tried to pull things back, it always looks odd to me, even though I often shy away from super-saturated colors in my other work. So once again, Supergirl and Superwoman are soaked with red and blue.

Something else to keep in mind about the covers I post here is that they are designed for print on a comic book, and as a result, they will never look as bright and shiny in the real world as they do on a glowing computer display. I have learned over the years to push the levels about 10% further than I think I should while working on the computer. By the time it sees print, it usually looks about right. Early on in my career, I was often frustrated that my printed work always seemed washed-out compared to what I was staring at in Photoshop. I didn't stop to consider the properties and limitations of ink on paper, just one potential pitfall of working digitally.

I suppose I could knock the saturation back just a touch on the JPEG's I post here to better approximate the printed look, or better yet, you folks can go buy the books!

Thanks for looking!

Joshua

Supergirl 39

2009-02-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

This is the cover to issue 39 of Supergirl, featuring Reactron.

I wasn't sure how to go about rendering all of the metal, and wound up experimenting quite a bit. I started with a quick digital sketch as a foundation (which I used to get approval for the image from my editor) and made a new line drawing by tracing the rough sketch cleanly. I then shaded the line drawing by hand with some water-soluble graphite pencils, which I was able to blend with a clean wet brush. I also went in with some white paint to pull out some highlights. I scanned the gray "chrome" rendering back into the computer, placed it over my basic sketch, and tried several different blending modes to marry it with the base layer. It required quite a bit of brushing and smudging to look decent.

After a lot of playing around, I somehow arrived at this. I'm not sure if I pulled off exactly what I had in mind originally, and the metal is more convincing in some areas than others, but that's how it goes.

As soon as I finished this one, I went straight to work on another Supergirl cover, which I will post this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Flower Fairy

2009-01-25T03:50:00.000-08:00

I hesitated to post this one because it is a little more tossed-off than the stuff I usually like to share, but I am sick of looking at that Supergirl cover with its predominance of red, blue, and yellow. Superheroes sure seem to like those colors for their little outfits.

This is just a very quick sketch I used to experiment with in Painter and Photoshop. It was drawn in blue pencil quite roughly on printer paper, inked with 0.3 and 0.45 Pigma markers to clean it up, and colored in Painter. I used Photoshop for clean-up, overall adjustments, and to create the background design.

That's all for now.

Joshua

Supergirl 40

2009-01-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here is the Supergirl 40 cover. It seems an identity will be revealed. Gasp!

I skipped over issue 39 due to some deadline troubles which made me work out of order, but I will be providing the cover for that issue as well. I'll be sure to post it here as soon as it is finished.

To those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to make available more original art, I apologize for the delay. I will try to get everything online soon.

All the best,

Joshua

Bugs and Horns

2009-01-14T04:25:00.000-08:00

While organizing some folders this evening I stumbled upon the bats and bugs file seen here. Some of you might recall the Metamorphose poster I worked on with the inimitable Barbara Canepa a while back. I drew most of the elements separately and composited them together in Photoshop, or in the case of these bugs, sent the individual images to Barbara who then arranged them as she saw fit (making a much better poster than I was managing on my own, truth be told). In the final illustration, the bugs and bats were quite small, so I thought I would show them here.

Along with the bugs is another horned weirdo I found laying around. I don't recall when I sketched him, but I more than likely needed something quick to experiment on with some color. I don't think I learned anything on this particular session.

That's all for now.

Joshua

Faerie

2009-01-13T04:52:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that most if not all of my recent posts have been job-related, so here is a faerie I sketched out the other night for fun.

And there you have it.

Joshua

City of Fire

2009-01-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

I was happily asked to provide a wraparound cover for "City of Fire", an upcoming YA fantasy novel from Tor books. Here it is, along with a couple of detail shots. Once again, it was created using a combination of hand-drawn artwork and digital painting, utilizing both Corel Painter and Abobe Photoshop.

I had to break some rules to allow each section of the cover- front, back, spine, and flaps- to work on its own while hopefully holding together for the most part, and including all of the requested elements. I also attempted to restrain myself from overworking the art, especially the background, as I often find fantasy book covers oppressively dark and excessively detailed. I tried to keep this one distinctly colorful and fairly open so that it looks best wrapped around a book with a title across the plume of smoke, and the image and colors can be read at a distance. Most importantly, I hope it captures the feel of the story and reaches the intended audience.

I have to thank the illustrious Irene Gallo for this assignment. Be sure to stop by her great blog, The Art Department, where you will undoubtedly discover many great artists.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Vixen 5

2008-12-01T03:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover for issue 5 of Vixen, the last of the limited series.

This one started as a digital sketch, which I took as far as I could before turning it in for solicitation in the Previews comic book catalog.

When I returned to the digital sketch to finish it off for print, I knew what it needed but wasn't inspired to do it digitally, so I wound up finishing off the final image with acrylic inks and color pencil.

There you have it.

Joshua

Supergirl 38

2008-11-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover to Supergirl issue 38. It is drawn in ink and colored in Photoshop. It grew increasingly colorful and "glowy" as I went along. When I started out, I rendered the background character (Superwoman) in natural light, with a lot of contrast and a fair amount of detail. Unfortunately, it looked like a Sears portrait, so I kept working on it. I knew what I wanted, something atmospheric and somewhat cosmic, but for whatever reason, I kept drawing a blank on how to do it. Eventually, with a lot of constructive criticism from my wife, I stumbled onto something that worked well enough.

My wife also had me reduce the size of Supergirl's left hand, which was originally rather large, although I didn't see it as the enormous baseball mitt that my wife did. Apparently, I tend to draw overly large hands with some regularity. I have also learned that I am inclined to draw gigantic heads. My wife claims that Supergirl's noggin on the cover of issue 35, the newspaper cover, is a good example of my pumpkin-headed tendencies.

For those of you who check the comic book solicitations in the Previews catalog, you can see the earliest incarnation of this issue's cover in the solicitations. I couldn't finish it completely in time to make the catalog's deadline, so we had to go with what I had completed at that time. You can imagine your own wagon wheel and scenic backdrop.

Thanks for looking,

Joshua

Supergirl lines

2008-11-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

I've had several requests to share more line art along with the finished color work. To satisfy those requests and pass some time while I finish up some more work, here is the line art for two recent Supergirl covers.

Both are drawn in ink, but the Supergirl versus Silver Banshee image is drawn in my more typical fine-line style, with great attention given to each line. On the other hand, the Superwoman descending image is a little bit of a departure in that I first sketched the figure in blue pencil with a fair amount of midtones and rendering. Unsure of how to approach the final line art, I eventually threw caution to the wind and went at it with the pens, replacing the blue shading with linework. If you go back and look at the final color version in my October 18th post, you will see that I wound up coloring out a lot of the linework anyway, but it did serve as a good foundation for the color by injecting some movement in the line.

How those first strokes go down on the paper can really influence the final look of an image, no matter how much time we spend on it. It is sometimes good to mix things up a little in the early stages to force a new approach when finishing the image- more opportunities for experimentation and the blessed happy accident.

Also, for those folks who have been contacting me about purchasing original art, I will have more art available soon (including the above drawings), so please keep checking the blog for updates.

Thanks very much to everyone for their interest.

Joshua

The Silver Door

2008-10-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is the wraparound cover for "The Silver Door", the forthcoming sequel to "The Ruby Key" from Holly Lisle's "Moon and Sun" series of fantasy novels from Scholastic.

The line art was drawn in ink and colored in Painter and Photoshop. I designed the dragon/bird ship based on notes and sketches from the author, although I kind of went off on my own a bit with the flourishes in the armor.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of this cover was settling on the size of the ship. Although the author's original notes had the ship substantially larger, it was decided that my initial layouts left the characters too small. After a lot of discussion with the editor and several more passes at the layout, I had to adjust the scale of the ship quite a bit, reducing its size relative to the characters in order to make them more visible.

This is a common dilemma in illustration; it is very easy to imagine characters riding a giant beast, or in the window of a huge castle, but when artists are asked to draw such a scene while capturing both the human-sized characters (even their smiling faces) along with the gigantic elements, it is often an impossible task. I first ran into this trouble when I started in comic books, with writers describing impossible panels: "A massive star-destroyer is hurtling through space, weaving through meteors. Through the cockpit glass, we see the captain gritting his teeth." There are many more examples, but in every case, it's an impossible panel that leads to one irritated artist.

But that's the challenge, and in this case, the ship had to be reduced. As it is, it is still easy to miss the cat!

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Two more Vixen covers

2008-10-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the covers to issues 3 and 4 of DC Comics' "Vixen" limited series. We are continuing with the theme of Vixen and animals.

The one with the birds is the cover to the fourth issue. The editor requested the image, and I mentioned that I had already done something very similar with a Supergirl cover a while back (as well as a Sky between Branches image even earlier), but since the Supergirl image has yet to see print, we figured it was okay.

I drew the Vixen cover in Japan and colored it on a laptop without referencing my earlier Supergirl cover. After coming home and seeing them together, I realized they are much more similar than I had imagined.

Now that I think about it, Vixen's pose in the third cover (running with the antelope) is rather similar to a Flash cover I did a while back, too. Wow, I am apparently completely out of ideas for poses.

I've been stepping all over my own toes. I'd better move along.

Joshua

The Unknowns

2008-10-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

Here is another wrap-around book cover, this time for "The Unknowns", a forthcoming young-adult novel from Abrams Books.

Once again, the composition looks a bit strange when the cover isn't folded into its front, back, and two flaps arrangement, but there you have it.

Joshua

Supergirl 37

2008-10-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover to Supergirl issue 37, which actually features Superwoman. The cover follows a theme DC is running through several books the same month, with a character on a black background and up-lighting of some sort.

More soon-

Joshua

Ink sketches

2008-09-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the sketches I have been doing in between trying to finish two more covers for DC and finishing off a wraparound cover for Abrams books (I'll post all three covers just as soon as they are finished and approved).

These sketches were roughed out in blue pencil and then finished off with Pigma pens. It is a lot of fun throwing some heavy blacks in there every now and then. In fact, back before I started working professionally and before I moved into a primarily fine line style, I attempted to draw with spotted blacks here and there in an attempt to find a "comic book" style, which I believed was necessary at the time. Some remnants of that early fumbling around are still apparent in my earliest published work.

Maybe someday I will take another stab at drawing a story with spotted blacks. I'd like to think I got better at it, but when monsters like Mike Mignola are out there, maybe I'd better save the ink.

Joshua

Tor interview

2008-09-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I apologize once again for not posting more work. I'm overseas at the moment and won't return home for a few more weeks. I will post some of the sketches I have been doing while traveling as soon as I can figure out a good way to get them into the computer, not having access to a scanner at the moment. I suppose I will have to snap a few pictures and clean them up as best I can in Photoshop.

In the meantime, here are a couple of links courtesy of Irene Gallo, the art director of Tor, Forge, and Starscape books. Ms. Gallo was kind enough to interview me and post some examples of my work on the new Tor.com as well as her excellent blog. Both sites feature tons of great art, so please enjoy clicking around.

Tor.com

The Art Department (Irene Gallo's blog)

More soon-

Joshua

Supergirl 35 (or 36)

2008-08-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover to Supergirl issue 35, my second as regular cover artist. -UPDATE: It seems that there is an Alex Ross cover lined up for issue 35, so this cover will probably run as the cover for issue 36. I apologize for any confusion.-

I am sorry for not posting more frequently. I will try to pick up the pace!

Thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Vixen and Jackals

2008-07-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover to the second issue of the upcoming 5-issue Vixen miniseries for DC Comics (The image of Vixen and a lion I posted a while back will be the cover for the first issue).

Enjoy!

Joshua

Supergirl 34

2008-06-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

DC has just released this image, so I will share it here, too. This is the cover to Supergirl issue 34, my first cover as the new regular cover artist for the Supergirl monthly series.

The idea of having Supergirl and Silver Banshee busting out of a newspaper article came from DC (I believe the new writer, Sterling Gates, suggested it originally) and after sketching a bit, I thought it would be nice to make the cover itself the newspaper, incorporating the logo and other trade dress into the design, rather than showing a newspaper sitting on a table or something. DC liked the idea, so I set to work figuring out how to incorporate all of the text. DC was kind enough to provide me with all of the logos so that I could marry them to the drawing naturally.

In the end, placing the text was a bit of a pain, especially on the torn pieces from the reverse side of the paper. I actually cut up some newspapers to figure it out. I hope the end result is worth all of the effort. I did learn a bit more about Photoshop's text editing tools, which are more powerful than I had realized.

Fans of the series with a careful eye may be able to piece together some story "Easter eggs" in the various headlines.

I am already working on the next one, which might also incorporate the logo into the art in an interesting way. I'm going to try to keep it interesting every month.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joshua

Next Avengers DVD packaging

2008-06-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Here are the front and back images for the packaging of the upcoming Marvel/Lionsgate direct-to-DVD animated feature, "Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow". Both images will be cropped a bit once they see print, and needless to say, will have a lot of text, credits, and insets adorning them.

I wasn't involved with the project other than illustrating the package, so my work was based on what had already been done for the film. The challenge was to keep the characters on model while lending them a pinch of my interpretation. I don't know how successful I was, but I enjoyed the job.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

The War That Time Forgot

2008-05-28T01:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a cover I did a little while ago for an upcoming issue of The War That Time Forgot, a DC Comics series which looks to be a lot of fun. It is nice to see a book with a classic, fantastic adventure feel to it.

Perhaps the classic feel of the book influenced my approach to the cover as well, which I drew in a more traditional "comic book" style, with spotted blacks and line weights in ink (although I colorized a lot of the black while coloring in Photoshop).

I will have more work and more news soon, including some info on my new regular cover assignment for DC. Thanks as always for stopping by and having a look.

Joshua

Random sketches

2008-05-23T15:05:00.001-07:00

Just some doodles.

J

Long walk

2008-05-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a little digital sketch done primarily with Painter, with a touch of Photoshop here and there. Once again, I was just experimenting a bit between jobs. I didn't give much thought to the composition and it is a little too symmetrical as a result, but I did make an effort to keep it simple and to stay away from making tons of global adjustments or playing around with filters, instead trying to choose the right colors and put them in the right places.

It's not spectacular, but at least it pushes Hitchcock down a notch.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Hitchcock

2008-05-01T00:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the Calgary Comics Expo as a guest. While there, I was bribed into sketching Alfred Hitchcock in exchange for a large bag of candy and a giant chocolate bar. Now, before anyone gets any ideas, candy will not get you a sketch. I am all set for candy. However, there may be other sketch-worthy items out there. I suppose folks looking for sketches will simply have to shower me with gifts until they find the winning items.

To see where this Hitchcock wound up, check out this gallery.

Besides visiting Canada, I have been busy with some non-comics work, including more book covers and DVD packaging. I'll share more details and art when I can, and I'll try to post again soon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joshua

Vixen

2008-04-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I have been away so long. I have been working on all sorts of things, but don't have much I can share just yet. I do have this Vixen cover I put together a few weeks ago.

This one was tough, so much so that I completely scrapped a completed version of the pencils and started over, something I have only done once or twice before. My first pass at it was just too realistic, as I leaned on reference too much. I had completely rendered it in pencil, but after a lot of wasted time trying to "fix" it, I decided to give up and start over. It just isn't possible to make something bigger once it has been put down small.

The second time around, I drew more from my head, and was much happier with the figure in the end. The lion could have been pushed more, but I was running out of time (a shame, since I really love lions. I'll have to find an excuse to draw some more...), so I went with something fairly plain jane.

My first abandoned pass wasn't a total loss, however, since I scanned it to use the shaded tones as a basic shade layer for the new one, albeit with massive cranking of the levels to lose the pencil texture.

I should also mention that I swiped myself for the pose: I drew a Princess Leia for the inimitable John H. a while back and decided to build on that. Just picture Jabba instead of the lion.

Well, there you have it. I will have some more stuff soon, and some news about upcoming projects.

Thanks for looking,

Joshua

WizardWorld Los Angeles

2008-03-13T15:56:00.001-07:00

I should have mentioned this earlier, but WizardWorld Los Angeles opens tomorrow for 3 days of fandom fun. Wizard was kind enough to set me up with a table in Artist Alley, so if any of you Los Angeles folks are in the neighborhood, please swing by and say hi. I haven't attended any conventions for quite a long while, so hopefully it will be fun. Plus, it gives me an excuse to run down to Philipe's for a tasty French-dip sandwich. Damn, their spicy mustard is delicious!

See you there,

Joshua

Busy...

2008-03-13T04:48:00.001-07:00

Girl in black

2008-02-11T02:24:00.000-08:00

Continuing the series of character designs started with the last post. Ink and Photoshop.

I don't think she will mind me saying that all of these characters are based on descriptions by the gracious Barbara Canepa.

Joshua

Characters

2008-02-09T12:47:00.000-08:00

I noticed these images were saved as a draft I never got around to posting. I can't recall if I shared some of these in another post, so forgive me if there are some repeats in here. These are some character designs I was working on a while back. The project hasn't been realized, so I won't say too much about these drawings, other than they were drawn in pencil and colored in Painter.

Enjoy.

Joshua

Metamorphose

2008-02-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

Here is an image I co-created with the lovely and talented Barbara Canepa to help promote the new "Metamorphose" imprint of Bande Dessinée (French "comic" books) for Soleil, a dynamic publisher in France. This image was used as a fold-out poster in a new Soleil catalog released for Angoulême, France's premier Bande Dessinée festival, which just occurred a week or so ago.

For those of you who may not know, Barbara Canepa is a talented artist and writer, and is behind the highly successful Sky Doll series (amongst several other things), which is soon to be published in the United States by Marvel Comics.

For this poster, I drew the basic layout and imagery based on Barbara's direction, and then handed it off to Barbara to finish. She tweaked the colors, re-arranged some of my drawn elements, and added the lettering to bring the whole thing together. The images in the ovals are from each of the three new series the poster is promoting. My part was drawn in pencil and colored in Photoshop.

As many of you must know, France is a world-leader in the production and appreciation of sophisticated, diverse, and beautifully executed sequential illustration. It would do most of the American comics audience a world of good to look beyond their fetishistic fascination with putridly colored men-in-tights to the wonders being drawn in France and around the globe.

Joshua

Supergirl

2008-02-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a look at the first of a series of covers I am working on featuring DC Comics' heroines. I will post details on where and when they will be published when that information becomes available.

Along with the Photoshop-colored finish, I have posted a detail image to better show the line quality, something I am often asked about. I have also posted the art as it looks on the board, and finally the original thumbnail sketch I sent my editor for approval.

Supergirl's pose was inspired by a picture of a Japanese model kit/figurine I spotted while flipping through a magazine. I don't know anything about the figurine, but I sure wish I owned it. The Japanese are the best sculptors in the business. I was approached many years ago with the possibility of producing a statue based on the Psylocke cover I did for Marvel. My delight quickly turned to horror with the realization that the sculpting would be done by the same folks responsible for the many American superhero busts and action figure abominations out there. Thankfully, it was never produced. I still look forward to the day when I can be involved in the production of a high-quality figure with one of the good Japanese outfits. I'd love to see some figures based on Sky Between Branches characters gracing my shelf one day.

Speaking of Branches, some of you may notice the composition/theme of this Supergirl piece is very similar to a Sky Between Branches image I produced a while back. Let's all just pretend I am not completely out of ideas.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joshua

Last JLA Classified Cover Auction

2008-01-28T00:40:00.000-08:00

I now have the last remaining JLA Classified cover up for auction. This one is drawn in pencil with a bit of shading on the rocks for texture. Interested parties can click the image in the column to the right to be taken directly to the auction for more details or to place a bid.

Thanks for looking,

Joshua

Phone Sketches

2008-01-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

While I am at it with the phone doodles, here are some sketches. These were drawn in pencil on cream-colored paper.

Joshua

Phone Paintings

2008-01-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

These small digital doodles were all done while I was on the phone in either Artrage or Sketchbook Pro. A couple of them got a boost in Photoshop after I hung up. The red mountains and forest one was done while glancing at a photo in a book that happens to be next to my desk.

I certainly don't mind a long conversation, but I'd feel guilty if I wasn't productive in some way, so if I am near my computer, I might open up some new or rarely used software to see how it feels and hopefully learn a few things. Otherwise, I will typically sketch with a pencil while talking on the sofa.

Needless to say, these pieces aren't destined for any museums anytime soon, and because they are so rough and absentminded, I hesitated to show them at all, but I do like the clouds with the red birds; that's the result of swirling around the brush in Artrage with some heavy paint.

More proper drawings soon.

Joshua

Digital Hana sketch

2008-01-11T01:27:00.000-08:00

This sketch was done entirely in the computer while I tried out a few things. It is still difficult to draw properly on the computer with a tablet due to the disconnect between hand and eye. I have considered investing in a Cintiq, a device with which one is able to draw directly on the screen to remedy this problem, but by the time I am done considering the Cintiq's merits, I have usually lost interest in working digitally all together and go back to my pencil, happy to have far fewer options. Perhaps it is because my digital sketches are never that successful that I lose interest. Eh, whatever.

Once again, this young lady is meant to be Hana, a character from a book I have been meaning to draw for some time now. Her features aren't quite right, but there you have it.

More soon,

Joshua

Happy New Year- and last JLA cover

2008-01-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I hope 2008 is a fruitful and productive year for us all. Best wishes to each and every one of you!

Here is my last cover of 2007, completed a couple of days ago. It also completes the JLA Classified arc. Although this cover doesn't really look like "me", it was fairly enjoyable to work on. The original is drawn in pencil, and the rock formations were shaded in pencil as well, which provided a nice textured base for the color, which was done in Photoshop CS2.

I'm not much for resolutions, but I do plan on making 2008 a strong creative year. The stars have been aligning to that end, and I am excited to share more personal work in the coming months. Endless thanks to all of those who have kept an interest in my work.

More soon,

Joshua

JLA Classified issue 51 cover

2007-12-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover to JLA Classified issue 51, the second of the arc of five (as I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been drawing them out of order for solicitation purposes). So, I have now posted 50, 51, 52, and 54. I'll post 53 later in the week.

This one is drawn in pencil only, and colored in Photoshop.

Thanks for looking.

J

Elric commission

2007-12-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

This is a real rarity: A commission. The recipient of this piece requested it long ago, back when I used to take on commissions when appearing at comic conventions. As anyone who has suffered through my waiting list at the shows can attest, even when I was taking them on, I completed precious few commissions- and not because they were so awesomely time-consuming to complete, but because I just couldn't seem to muster the enthusiasm required to draw something I was happy with. Too often, tired and loopy from the show, I would fall apart and draw some hideous thing and then scrap it and focus on finding a place to buy some cereal to enjoy back in the room (Just ask Skottie Young how hard we party with some Cocoa Pebbles. Any recovering cereal addict can tell you few things trump getting down with some ice-cold milk and some General Mills. God Damn!)

Anyway, I started a sketch for this Elric piece a long time ago, but never got around to finishing it. I was struggling to get some covers done the other night and really needed something else to do, so I decided to relax with the Elric commission and play around with some colored pencils and Prismacolor Artstix on pastel paper. The drawing wasn't all that tight, which afforded me the opportunity to experiment with the materials a bit. I hope the new owner of this drawing enjoys the result.

If I decide to take on more commissions, I will say so right here on the blog (I wouldn't hold my breath. I can almost here Cap'n Crunch calling me now. "Ahoy! How I have missed you, dear friend!")

As always, thanks for stopping by.

J

JLA Classified Cover auction

2007-12-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

An auction for my first JLA Classified cover (pictured here in original form) will start this evening. Interested parties can check it out here.

Thanks,

J

JLA Classified 54

2007-11-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover to JLA Classified issue 54. Don't know what to say about it, really. Drawn in ink with Copic Multiliner SP's, colored in Photoshop.

Also, I replied to a couple of comments in the Ruby Key thread.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

J

The Ruby Key

2007-11-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

This is the dust jacket for "The Ruby Key", the first book in a new series of young adult fantasy novels titled "Moon and Sun", written by Holly Lisle. I completed it for the good folks at Scholastic Publishing a few months ago. It will be published some time next year.

The composition looks odd when it isn't folded up, so the smaller JPEG includes some lines to help indicate roughly where the image will be folded to wrap around the book.

The original is a rather large line drawing, somewhere around 16"x36", which I drew on heavy board with the idea that I might actually paint it. In the end, I scanned it and colored in Photoshop and Painter as usual. Maybe I will paint the next one.

The line art pictured here is how it appeared after I made some adjustments. The original is drawn in blue, and the main figures are actually facing the opposite direction, with their backs to one another. I had to flop them over in Photoshop because, for some strange reason, I decided to deviate from the sketch I submitted to Scholastic for approval when drawing the final, turning the figures the opposite direction. In the end, Scholastic decided they wanted them facing the same way I drew them in the sketch, so I did some careful selecting and digital noodling to fix it. That'll teach me to screw around with the layout!

If I can dig up the roughs, layouts, and scans, I will post them later; there were a lot of them. At the moment, I can't seem to recall where I put them.

Thanks for looking.

J

Absentminded sketches

2007-11-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of digital doodles I did between real work and a goblin I drew while on the phone this evening. The background drawings were done for fun and experimentation, and they truthfully aren't very well thought out or executed, but they served their purpose. After I hung up the phone, I decided to scan the goblin and play around with some color for a few minutes.

I never know if the color actually improves a drawing or if it just makes it something different. Without exception, something is lost when color is added. Hopefully, something more is gained, otherwise there is no point in the color. My color skills aren't the strongest, so I have unfortunately hurt the lines more often than not. I need to figure out a way to capture the immediacy of the pencil drawing while still bringing everything to a clean, colorful finish. It is my endless struggle.

J

JLA Classified 52

2007-10-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the cover for JLA Classified issue 52. These are being done out of order for solicitation purposes. I'm working on the cover for issue 54 now, and I will jump back for issues 51 and 53, which will complete the arc.

For those who might be interested in how one of these covers comes together, I have included some images of the different stages of production. First, I submit a sketch, sometimes based on the editor's suggestion, or sometimes based on my own ideas after reading the script. In this case, I submitted 2 sketches, one of the editor's concept, the other my own (I only posted my own, as we might still use the other one later). Editorial favored my take, and I was given the green light to produce the final.

I went to work straightaway on the full-size board without any other roughs because I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do, and I was a little pressed for time. I drew the entire piece in blue pencil, then went straight to inks, employing technical pens for most of the job.

I have posted the drawing as it actually looks after scanning, and then the cleaned-up line art after removing the blue lines in Photoshop and adjusting the levels for a pure black line.

All of the color was produced in Photoshop. The cover was completed over the course of two days.

J

JLA Classified 50

2007-10-15T21:27:00.001-07:00

I have a run of DC covers on the way for a 5-issue arc of JLA Classified (Issues 50-54, drawn by John Byrne), the first of which is pictured here. I spent some time on a background, but wasn't getting what I wanted. I wound up erasing it all, and DC and I agreed that the white looked good, so I threw in the lasso in the BG and called it a day. Sometimes keeping it simple is best.

I'll post the others as they are released for solicitation.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

J

One that was put to sleep

2007-10-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have shown these before. The project didn't come together, but here are some sketches I did a year or so ago when I was working with Vertigo. You might recognize the character. Better you guys see these than let them go to waste, right?

J

Middleton's Original Art Marketplace

2007-10-12T01:24:00.000-07:00

Okay folks, I'm ready to move some product! I've set up a site to sell off the piles of pages clogging my studio, so if anybody is in the market for some Middleton originals, please click the link to the right of the page to visit the new Original Art Marketplace.

I'm opening up with the entire Outsiders issue I recently drew. I will be making more art from various projects available in the near future, so please do check back for updates.

Even if you aren't looking to purchase, the Marketplace might be worth checking out if you have an interest in seeing my line art unadorned with color. The JPEGs available there might be the only place to see the art as it looks pre-Photoshop.

Thanks so much for looking!

J

Some random sketches

2007-10-08T21:54:00.001-07:00

Here are some more oddball sketches. Nothing earth-shattering this time, but I have to keep this blog alive, damn it! Actually, I should be posting a bit more often now that my work schedule has opened up a bit (just focusing on DC covers and personal secrets for now). I'll even try to make the posts more significant than auction announcements and headshots.

Thanks for checking in.

J

Auction update

2007-09-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Just letting everyone know that the original drawing for the cover of All Flash has been thrown up on the auction block as well. Links to the auctions are on the right.

Thanks,

J

Auctions

2007-09-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

It is about time I clear off some shelf space, so I am setting up some original art auctions, the first of which being the cover to my Outsiders: Five of a Kind comic, featuring Metamorpho and Aquaman, and the cover to the premier issue of Majestic I drew a while back.

There will be several more auctions coming up, spanning a wide range of affordability, which I will add to the new auction links (just to the right of this page) as soon as they go up.

Thanks for looking!

J

It has been too long

2007-09-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not posting anything in such a long time. I have been busy with some stuff that unfortunately is not ready to be seen yet, so here are some minor (and mostly old as dirt) sketches to try and hold us over for a little while. I am as sick of looking at those sandy pages below as anyone.

The first is just a girl, the second is a cowgirl (drawn on an airplane, incidentally, which might help explain why she appears to be smuggling misshapen water balloons in a hideously knotted blouse) for the program of a Calgary comicon which I was unfortunately unable to attend. I colored the sketch in Photoshop after unpacking; I can not explain the horrendous color choices. The third appears to be a tired attempt at a "cartoony" Beast of the X-Men, and I don't remember when I drew it exactly.

Well, that was worth the wait. I really will have to post something more substantial next time.

As always, thank you so very much for stopping by.

J

Outsiders preview

2007-07-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Since DC posted a preview elsewhere, I figured I'd share the same pages here. For everyone losing sleep over how Aquaman could possibly survive in a desert, put your minds at ease...there's water under the ground. Ahh, the magic.

J

Lost girl

2007-06-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a couple of specific sketches to send to a friend when I came across this one, which I neglected to post with the other girls a while back. In this example as in the previous entries, I was just trying to get a feel for the character and didn't put too much thought into the details.

Often times, I try to focus on the atmosphere of the character first, then worry about how exactly they will wear their hair or their clothes after I understand who they are. Knowing the "feel" of a character really helps in deciding the details. It is easy to get lost in or hide behind the costuming, whether it is excessive accessories or superfluous costume details. It is fun to work through the process when designing a character or world, and having the time to edit down and refine one's ideas is a precious luxury not often afforded to mainstream work.

On the other hand, it can sometimes be a problem dressing characters when the inspirational sketches are overly atmospheric or impressionistic; any exact details seem to overwhelm the figure. I try to look for the balance between the inspirational sketch and a clean, consistent design which can be turned around and moved throughout a page.

There is no harm in cheating the design or going "off-model" every now and then, however. For example, if it is a more effective shot to lengthen the hair, the cape, or even the limbs of the figure itself in a particular panel, I try not to be afraid. Pushing the drawing when necessary brings life. Sometimes it is good to draw what we think we see, or what we "feel" we see, rather than what is, or what we think should be.

At least, that is what I am telling myself this time.

J

Beastmen

2007-06-18T22:59:00.001-07:00

I've just returned from Heroescon, a very superhero-centric show. I wasn't in the mood to draw any commissions, or sketches for that matter, but I did draw these two guys to entertain myself. Some might recognize a somewhat tweaked-out version of an old standby of mine, "the horned guy" (really a character named Pahncha from my imaginary Sky between Branches). His nameless friend turned out looking kind of like a lion.

As usual, I came away from a comic convention convinced I have no business drawing superheroes. Now I must catch up on my Aquaman duties. Damn.

J

Heroes Convention

2007-06-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

To anyone who might be in the North Carolina area, this weekend is the Heroes Convention in Charlotte. The guest list looks mighty, and I will be there with prints and art. There is plenty of info on their website. Stop by and say hello if you happen to make the show.

Because I would feel silly not posting any art, above is a panel from the book I am working on.

I'll post some better stuff when I get back.

J

Viking?

2007-05-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

This dude came out of screwing around with Painter and Photoshop to test a few things, but mainly to try to feel like I am still imaginative even though I am drawing Aquaman (no offense to Aquaman, or Aquaman fans. Both of you.)

I started sketching digitally and ran through a bunch of different ideas, erasing as I went- monsters grimacing, mythological action heroes leaping forth- but in the end, they seemed like too much work and I felt pressed for time, so yet again I went with my standard "headshot of a guy with slightly exaggerated features and one piece of vaguely medieval or fantasy costume so that I might feel like a fantasist" approach, and thus we have this. I shall call it "Viking in a Sears Portrait Studio".

I need to work much, much harder on my drawing and stylization. These little headshots, like this viking and the wizard below, although largely bullshit, do serve a purpose in that they are attempts to break out of old habits when constructing a face and head shape. I sometimes like my "go-to" forms, but lately, I have realized that the shapes I am seeing in my head are being lost as soon as I put the pencil down on the paper, like a guitarist stuck on the same patterns or riffs when the music they want to hear is made up of different scales entirely. I am defaulting to "my face" when that's not always the face I really want anymore. The only way out is to force my hand out of those damn invisible tracks my pencil seems so compelled to sink into.

Tune in next time for a druid in front of a wagon wheel.

J

Wizard

2007-05-28T12:20:00.001-07:00

I am already tired of looking at those two goofballs in the desert below, so here is a sketch of a wizard.

J

Outsiders

2007-05-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Boy, it has been a while since I posted. I apologize for the delay. I have been anxious to share some of the stuff that has been keeping me busy, but sometimes I have to wait until projects are announced before I show off artwork, and it seems everything I have been working on lately is being kept under wraps.

Luckily, DC has just released solicitation info for one of my current assignments, so I can now post some art. Above is the final cover (the cover up on Newsarama is an earlier version with a slightly different Aquaman; the color is also screwy in their JPEG) for a special issue of Outsiders. Yes, I said after Superman/Shazam that I probably wouldn't draw another superhero book, but here we are. No capes, though. Does that count?

This is a one-shot issue which takes place in the Sahara and features magic and lots of elemental battle. I'm halfway through the interiors, and things have been going pretty smoothly on this particular issue, though I always wish I could have more time to put more into the art. Having sand dunes as most of my backgrounds definitely helps, however.

As a bonus, I managed to put together a little movie of the cover process. I don't know how educational it is, but hopefully it is at least mildly interesting. This cover went through some growing pains, with Aquaman as the point of contention.

Originally, I was told that the new Aquaman is a teenager, so I drew him as such. Not surprisingly, editorial became uncomfortable with the non-stereotypical comic book proportions, so I was asked to bulk him up and add some years to his face, which is not an easy task after an image is drawn and colored. In the end, I rendered more details on his face, and thickened his neck and waist. It wasn't a perfect fix because his proportions are now a little wonky (it still looks to me like an older dude's head on a kid's body with a thick waist), but that is how it goes sometimes.

There is much more to come, so stay tuned.

J

Back from abroad

2007-04-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'm back and busier than ever. I'll post some specifics and sneak peeks as soon as the various projects are announced. In the meantime, here are some more sketches related to the lass I posted previously. I'll talk about what these doodles are building up to when the time is right.

Thanks to everyone for all of the nice comments you have been posting. I am always so pleased to see folks visiting from all over the globe and your kind words and critiques are very much appreciated.

Next post, I will share a newly completed DC cover for one of those projects keeping me busy, as well as a new movie!

Stay tuned-

J

Getting busy

2007-04-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be away with some work for the next week or two, so I thought I better post something before I go. It's just a little sketch, but it'll have to do.

I've had a few unexpected projects pop up recently, and I am suddenly very busy. It's all very good stuff, however, so I am quite pleased. I'm looking forward to sharing some new art as soon as I can- interior art, at that!

J

Flash 2.0

2007-03-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Flash editor gave me a call to inform me that she intends to use my cover in the near future, but I got the eye color wrong (the current Flash, Bart Allen, has brown/gold eyes, not blue). I opened up the file to make the quick adjustment, but couldn't resist playing around a bit.

For whatever reason, it never occurred to me to include some "speed lightning" when I first drew the image, but looking at it again, it seemed like it could use some. So, a simple tweak to the eyes turned into what you see here. The overall mood changed as well, with the richer palette and darker tonality making this one feel more ominous, at least to me.

What do you folks think? I sent it in to get my editors' opinions, but the final decision won't be made until next week. Scroll down to my previous Flash post to compare with the original, and let me know which version speaks to you.

Thanks for the help!

J

Green Arrow

2007-03-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

Here is Green Arrow, my latest cover for DC.

Drawn in ink on bristol, color in Photoshop.

Many more to come.

J

WizardWorld Los Angeles this weekend!

2007-03-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Great news! I narrowly escaped serving on the jury for a 3-week long murder trial by making a last minute plea to the judge. Thankfully, he dismissed me from that trial and threw my name back into the big pool, but I made it out before my name was drawn again for another trial. I am now safe for at least another year.

As a result of fulfilling my duty in one, long-ass day, I will be at the big show all weekend, including Friday. I will be set up in Artist Alley at table 1905 A&B. The guest list looks rather solid, so please come out and see some art.

Hope to see you there!

J

Wonder Woman

2007-03-10T23:43:00.000-08:00

Here she is. Although I intended to draw something graphic, flat, and line-heavy for my first Wonder Woman cover, I ended up with some fairly heavy rendering; there just wasn't much to the line art, so I worked up a lot in the color.

There weren't any prelims for this one, so what you see is what you get. Drawn in pencil, Photoshop for color (and cloud painting).

Green Arrow is on my desk now. He is actually looking very graphic, flat, and line heavy at the moment, but I wonder where he'll end up. I'll try to finish him off for next week.

J

Flash

2007-03-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here is The Flash. Along with the finished color and line art process pictures, I have posted a bunch of the doodles I suffered through in trying to figure out an interesting shot of a guy running (and again, without any specific story elements, as these are "inventory" covers).

After I sent in some color roughs I had worked up from a couple of my favorite doodles (which I would have posted but seem to have discarded), my esteemed editor, Mark Chiarello, decided that he favored one with a back-lit image of Flash running right at us (based on the doodle in the lower right-hand corner). I then reworked it into the blue pencil sketch. That was further refined by drawing in black pencil over my blue layout, and finally, that same line art was cleaned-up in Photoshop. I also used Painter for about 3 minutes to brush in some flesh tones on his face.

Wonder Woman is up next.

J