Didn’t have anything particularly in mind when I started this piece yesterday. I’ve done mermaid illustrations and sketches before. Perhaps I wanted to do something a bit different. While I didn’t think the hands came out that great, decided to post it anyway. Here’s a mermaid, with Neptune in Scorpio.
It’s too cold in NYC today. As of this blog post, the current temperature is 25 degrees. A good day to stay in and work on a Valentine Day’s sketch.
Yes, I know. I had promised to post new Valentine’s artwork everyday until Feb. 14th. Of course, life took over and this was not possible. So here’s my attempt at playing catch up with today’s sketch. Combining both Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day, I figured I’d create my own version of a ‘Pandora’s Box.’ Taking a cue from Goetia demons, here’s Sallos.
By request, someone suggested that I should post this sketch:
To be Glam. Last night I came across some photos on the internet. Soon afterwards I did this pencil sketch.
Back in the mid to late ’80s, the whole ’80’s ‘Hair Metal’ scene was huge. Bands like Poison, Motley Crue and such ruled. They were the fantasies of American teenage rebellion. Although I was never into the whole ’80s hair metal thing. In fact, I hated it. I preferred the ’80s Goth subculture, which I suppose would be considered ‘old school’ among today’s gloomy youngsters.
In the 1980’s, Goth subculture wasn’t as mainstream as it is today. To get a better idea of that era, nothing captures the underground Goth following like the NYC magazine Propaganda. I remember Propaganda not so much for the reviews, but for the conceptualized photography.
Now what ’80s Goth and Glam did have in common was androgyny. Personally to me, the classic Glam Rock wasn’t really the ’80s L.A. glam rock era, but more like from the 1970’s. Early Bowie when he was Ziggy Stardust, T-Rex, The Sweet, etc. I still love Sweet. In fact, their album ‘Desolation Boulevard’ is still one of my all time favorites.
Although hair glam metal was never my thing, there were a few exceptions. Take Hanoi Rocks for instance. I remember meeting Hanoi member Mike Monroe in NYC back when I was a teenager. He was a pure rock star through and through. Even in broad daylight, he would walk down St. Mark’s street in full glam gear. It wasn’t uncommon to see him somewhere in the Greenwich Village area. Last time I saw him, it might’ve been during 1986 or ’87. He was in some deli on Broadway, near NYU. (FYI, when I met Mike Monroe, he was a nice guy.)
Today I’m not so hateful towards hair metal. Now bands like Motley Crue is sort of like nostalgia to me. Although I still much prefer the ’70’s glam stuff. Does it really matter anyway? ‘Cause you realize that everything intertwines and connects anyway. It’s just depends on personal opinions and tastes.
Having said all of that, I still prefer Sweet over Cinderella.
Right before MoCCA Art Fest 2011, comicbook artist and inker Peter Palmiotti (he’s worked for Marvel, DC, and many other publishing companies; both major as well as small press) sent me a message on Facebook. Think it was Facebook, or an email, can’t remember which. Anyhow, he had an idea for a quickie collaboration. Peter kindly asked if I could do a pencil sketch, in which he would then ink in. I agreed.
If you’ve read some of my earlier blog posts a few weeks back, (https://witchesbrewpress.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/mocca-art-fest-2011/) I did the pencil sketch right after I had spent 24-28 putting together a Psycho Bunny mini-issue. Despite major sleep deprivation, I was on a drawing roll. To quote myself, I was a mean, not-so-lean sketching machine. A few hours later, Peter drops by my table. We’ve been internet buddies for quite some time now. It was on his birthday that we finally met, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Here’s the pencil sketch before inking. Photo taken with my iPhone:
Here’s the sketch after inking:
Looks amazing, doesn’t it? You can also check this out on DeviantArt here:
http://peterpalmiotti.deviantart.com/art/Witchipoo-Lady-206563350
Be sure to check out his other pieces too.
MoCCA came and went. Kinda glad its over in a way, although I still haven’t caught up on sleep. If I didn’t have school, I would have gladly stayed home. The MoCCA Art Fest itself didn’t tire me out. Actually, it was staying up all night working on the latest Psycho Bunny mini issue that did it. By the time I had arrived at the fest itself, I was pretty much zombified. At my table I practiced the art of sleeping with my eyes open.
It was around this point that I swore never, ever again will I attempt to pump out a self published issue within a 24 hour period. These might be empty words though. Somehow I can see myself doing another 24 hour art marathon.
If that wasn’t enough, I found myself sketching this despite only getting three hours of shut eye:
At this point I had become a mean, not so lean drawing machine. Still amazed that I was able to sketch while suffering from sleep deprivation. The piece itself, done on illustration board with Dewitt brand pencils was for a collaboration between me and artist/writer/inker/podcaster Peter Palmiotti. He’s done stuff for Marvel, DC, Image, Valiant and numerous independent titles. When he asked me to collaborate on this, I considered it an honor.
My own influences have always been more of the Fantagraphics Books style. What really got me into comics was the likes of Los Hernandez Brothers (Xamie and Gilbert) and Peter Bagge. I’ve been reading titles from these two parties since the early ’90s. Got dog-earred copies of their comics to prove this.
Yeah, I’m getting all sentimental here. Meeting both Hernandez Brothers last year, and Peter Bagge this year reminded me of why I dug comics in the first place. Also reminded me of why I put up with various nonsense over the past few years. Its due to my love of this medium. Honestly, if it wasn’t for these two, I would have never been a comicbook fan in the first place. When I was a child I read comics, mostly Harvey titles, Rupert The Bear, Archie, Peanuts, along with various newspaper strips. Yet it wasn’t until the late ’80s/early ’90s that I fell in love with what comics truly had to offer. After discovering those two, I explored different titles, like Sandman, Joe Matt’s Peepshow, Omaha The Cat Dancer, some Robert Crumb stuff, etc. In the end, I always went back to L&R and Hate. So if anything, you can always blame Hernandez Brothers and Peter Bagge.
Back to MoCCA. It was a bit slower for me than it was last year, but still managed to sell some stuff.
Here’s some more photos from this past weekend:
Still like MoCCA Art Fest better than some of the more mainstream comic cons. Probably because with the Alternative cons, its more mellow, and focuses more on the artists than numerous collector items.
Anyway…MoCCA was fun as always. Before I left, I swiped a poster from the wall, an advert for some Peter Bagge exhibit over at the Scott Eder gallery. Still got ethics, so I waited until the weekend was over until I took it. And with that, until next time…
*Photos by Ben Herman & Myself
This past weekend at the New York Comic Con (NYCC 2010) was interesting. As always you learn new things, etc. Sold some items, did a commission. Sold mostly Babalon Babes issue four and Tales of Woe. Looking back, when there’s plenty of well established artists in your section, people who are ten times more known than you…moving books and being asked to do a piece, its not too bad.
More about the NYCC 2010 later. Don’t have the time to spare at the moment, so I’ll have to post about the NYCC later. In the meantime, here’s a pencil sketch done over the weekend:
Been working more with pencil lately, thanks to my current drawing class.
Did this quick pencil sketch over the weekend, trying to work on my shading. Pencils used was 2B and HB. Here’s the result:
Started this piece back in March 2010. Had to put it aside for other projects, as was the case. Yesterday came across the item, and decided to finish it.
Here was the progression of this piece:
I’m a bit rusty in the watercolor department, since its been a while. Okay, plus I admit, the paints themselves aren’t the best in quality. Just wanted to get some basic exercises in, skills wise.
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