Wolf-Man #5 preview

So, it is long past time to get a new post up here. Issue #5 of The Astounding Wolf-Man should be out anytime. Here are a couple pages from it. I dig drawing robot stuff, and this issue has plenty of roboty guys in it, including the newly created "Construct" shown in these pages.

Going old school

Well, because you demanded it, I thought I would empty the files and show some really old stuff. This is a little embarrasing, but I always like seeing other artists old work. It sort of gives some perspective on where they came from and it is interesting to see their early influences. So I thought I would share some of my own with you. Yes you, sitting their wasting time on your computer when you should be working or spending time with your family, I care about you. And this is how I show it, so brace yourself... :)



Yeah, its not hard to see what kind of artists I was into back then. Please don't judge me too strongly, I was young and impressionable.

Cover #6 Process and More!

Before we begin today, a quick Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Now down to business.

The cover to issue 6 is one of my favorites so far. I really like drawing the Actioneers, the superhero team that Wolf-Man has some issues with, so designing a cover with them all fighting sounded like it could be cool. After a couple scribbly attempts, this was the idea I felt had some promise.
After looking at it more we decided that it might be better to have the other characters in the foreground.
As is my usual process, I enlarged the layout to comic board size and lightboxed it with blue pencil, tightening details and tweaking things a bit as I drew. And I forgot to scan my pencils again, so you can't see those. See the problem is that I don't have a big scanner, so I have to scan this stuff in pieces and put back together in Photoshop. I hate that part, cause nothing ever lines up right. So beacuse I don't like doing it and because I don't need to do it for the pencils (other than to show you guys) I often "forget" to do it. But I'll try to do better. Promise. Anyway, excuses over, here are the inks. Yay!

And now the final colors.



Also, here is a con sketch that I forgot to post sooner. Big thanks to Brian for the reminder.

Issue #4 is coming...

It is supposed to be in stores this coming week. Lots of good stuff this time, trust me, I wouldn't lie to you. I mean really, what good would it do me? Its a good thing I'm coloring this book on the computer, because if I was using traditional media I would have used up all the red paint from every art store in town (for those of you not as quick, that means that there is a whole lot of blood in this issue) :)

The cover is somewhere below in a previous post, but here are a couple pages from the issue and their rough layout.


Also, I should have a cover process post for issue #6 coming soon. Tell your friends.

The Giant

The book collecting the 2 issues of the Invincible universe handbook came out a week or so ago. You should buy it. It is done in the style of the old Marvel handbooks and contains pinups by some of my favorite (and therefore the best) artists in comics. I was honored to be asked to be included. The drawing that I did is of a character called The Giant, and he appeared for like 2 pages in an issue of Invincible. sdfdsf

Random stuff.

A mish mash of things this time. I have been super busy lately so some of this is a little delayed.

First, I know that here is a blurb about this over on the right side of the page but in case you missed it, ART SALES! Splash page art is handeling my original art sales. There are some good pages from the first 3 issues of Wolf-Man still available. Not to be a complete shill, but if I don't tell you, who will? I care about you is all, I want you to be able to demonstrate your good taste in art and contribute something positive to this world. Buying my art is a simple way that you can do that :) You can find my gallery here-
http://www.splashpageart.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=47

In other art news, the ever awesome Ryan Ottley (Invincible) drew a great cover for the second printing of Wolf-Man #3. Check out the pencils and final colored version on his blog here-
http://ryanottley.com/archives/87

The cover was colored by Kelsey Shannon. Kelsey is an all around art wizard. I want to be able to draw and color as good as him someday when I grow up. Check more of his work here-
http://www.roboworks.deviantart.com/gallery/

And finally, here is an interview Robert did a couple weeks ago about "The Astounding Wolf-Man"-
http://comics.ign.com/articles/831/831242p1.html

So yeah, no art by me this time. But I'll be back soon with some cool stuff.

TPB #1 Cover process

Well the trade collecting the first 4 issues of Astounding Wolf-Man is soliceted for January (I think) make sure to buy lots! Here is some of the process we went through for the cover. It started with a conversation with Robert (the writer) where we talked about some of the design elements we though would be cool. This was my first sketch based on that. I liked it alright...

...but Robert wasn't down with Wolfman's pose. So I worked up some other ideas. We decided to go with number "B" below.

Here I tightened up the drawing a bit. I really wanted the logo and everything to fit together well. So I mocked it up in Photoshop with the logo to make sure I had enough room.

Then I enlarged this to fit standard comic board size and lightboxed it to the board with blue pencil, tightening up the details as I traced it. I dont have a scan of those, so you will have to use your imagination and picture it. While your at it also imagine a beach in the Carribean on a beautiful sunny day. Your laying there next to a gorgeous woman (or man) with no responsibilities just enjoying the moment. Nice isnt it? Well hopefully this final image of the inked and colored cover will bring you a small portion of that Carribean happiness. Or maybe it won't but its all I have for you.

Cover #5 Process

Here goes! Initally we tried some other design ideas for this cover but they were bad. In trying to come up with something cooler Robert suggested the newspaper approach, I instantly I had an idea for the image and this was my early sketch.I wanted Wolf-Mans hand to really pop out and as I messed with the design more it seemed to better use the space and tuck under the logo to flip the image. I liked the left to right movement of the sketch, but I just couldn't make it work. So I changed it. Thats the best part of being an artist, I do what I want and justify it as a "creative" decision :) These are the pencils.


Here are the inks. Pretty much a trace job, because my pencils were so tight. I really need to loosen up with the penciling. Sometimes I do better than others, but for some reason I got pretty tight with these. Although for me there is always a little more pressure with a cover to get the lines just right, that tends to result in my tightening up. I added the text on the computer (thank you Adobe Illustrator) and for some dumb reason I changed "killer" to "villian". I also spelled it wrong. Killer sounds cooler (and is eaiser to spell) so I changed it back on the final, don't know what I was thinking here.

And finally the colors with all the newspaper text added. Robert wrote most of it. There is some funny stuff in there. Also some nice story bits.

Issue #3 is coming...

Just a quick one today. But first, you may noticed I finally painted around here. So the blog is less boring looking now.

Here is the cover for issue #3. It should be in stores next week. And it is AWESOME! Well, that opinion may be baised. But seriously, as usual there are some parts of it I like OK and other stuff that lets me know I still have ways to go.


Also, I should have a couple other cover process posts coming in the near future.

More Con Sketches

Check me out, 2 posts in one weeek! Here are a couple more con sketches from the past couple weekends. Thanks to those who sent them in. There are more out there so keep them coming!

Con Sketches

Hi all. San Diego was a blast. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table. This past weekend I was at Wizard World Chicago. Also a good time. I met a bunch of great people. I was set up next to Ivan Brandon, Andy MacDonald and the rest of the NYC Mech crew. They do great stuff, check them out.

Here are a couple con sketches from San Diego and a small (but fun) show I did in Massachusetts. I know there are a bunch more out there so if you have one, send me a scan yo! Particularly if it is a good one. Those who got crappy sketches from me don't need to send in those :)


There is an interview up with me today on Newsarama promoting issue #3 which will be out in September. You can check it out here-
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=125449

On a sad note, comic artist Mike Wieringo passed away earlier this week. I didn't know Mike really much at all. But the one time I met him was years ago at a small show in Chicago. I was showing my portfolio around and he was incredibly gracious and encouraging in his review. I never forgot that. In more recent years he had gone out of his way to compliment my work online, I had hoped to see him at a con again soon to thank him for the encouragement he gave me along the way. I guess that will have to wait. My prayers are with his family.

San Diego!

Just a quick update this time. I will be at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend. You can find me signing at the Image table or in artist alley table FF-17. I'll have some original Wolf-Man pages for sales as well as prints and sketchbooks. OK, commercial over, you may resume your web surfing...

Jason

The Astounding Wolf-Man #2

Hi! I have been super busy drawing Wolf-Man and keeping up with work and the family, so I am a little late with this, but issue #2 came out last week. Yay!

In the issue we meet a bunch of other superheros. I had fun designing their costumes. I feel more like a 'real' comic book artist when doing costume designs than I do drawing pages. I think it connects with the memory of being a kid and drawing characters I created but then just making up stories about them in my head and not drawing story pages. Strange. Anyway, the double page spread of the new heros about killed me for some reason, but it is the thing I am the most proud of in the book. So in case you didn't buy the issue here it is.

Actually this is a little different than it appears in the book. This is the original color version, but after doing this we decided that because this is their first appearance the colors should show more of their actual costume colors. So I re-colored it. But I hate to let this version go to waste... If you want to see the re-colored one you will have to buy the comic :)

Also, if you want to hear me talk about the book, here is a podcast interview thing.
http://www.fistfullofcomics.com/podcasts/2007/07/10/log-vol-2-44-jason-howard-the-astounding-wolfman/

Cover process

For those who are into seeing a little bit of the artwork process stuff, I aim to please. In my previous post I showed the rough layout for the cover to issue #4. That was drawn small, about 3" by 4", then scanned in and a little color added to help me decide on the final design. I enlarge the layout up to comic book page size (about 10" by 15") and print it out. I lightbox the layout on to nice paper and using blue pencil redraw the image using the layout as a guide. Then I tighten up the details over the blue lines with a regular mechanical pencil.
Once I am happy with the pencil drawing I ink the image. Nowdays I use PITT brush markers and some pens, these are so much faster for me than a "real" brush. In this stage the design changed a bit as we decided to leave out the cast shadow. I scan the finished ink drawing into Photoshop, where I color it. Although in this case there is not much actual color :) I like to try to design a cover to "pop", that is why I decided to color most of it in gray tones excpt for the blood.

That is pretty much my process for most pages, although I am always trying new things in hopes I may find a faster/better method. Also dependng on how comfortable I am with whatever I am drawing, sometimes my pencils are much looser than above.

The Motor City Con came and went. It was fun. I met some nice people. This was the third year in a row I did a Iron Giant commision for this guy who has an amazing collection of Iron Giant original art. The Simon Bizley one is humbling. Check them all out here-
http://ultimateirongiant.com/origart/origart.php

The Wolf is out of the bag...

Well, The Astounding Wolf-Man #1 came out a couple weeks ago. Pretty cool. Thanks to anyone who picked one up. Books like this can only survive with the support of the readers so if you like it make sure your local comic shop knows. Having a comic come out is still a strange experience for me. I want to like it, and I do, but I also see the things that could be better. So you know I am just working on improving. To see if I succeded you can buy issue #2 which will be out in July. In fact buy 2 copies, because you know, you didn't have pay for the first one :)

Here is an article the fine gentle people at Broken Frontier did with me-
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/details.php?id=799

If your near the great state of Michigan, I will be at the Motor City Con in Novi this weekend. Stop by and say "Hi". I will be doing sketches and signing books and all that stuff.

For those who posted comments here that havn't shown up, sorry. Apparently I have to manage these now and I hadn't done so. So they should be up now.

Here are a couple preveiw pages from issue #2 as well as the rough layout for #4 cover.

I'm in the papers...

...and on the web also. The local newspaper did a story on me that came out today. Its kinda funny, for years I have lived the lifestyle of work during the day and draw in the evening and weekends. but seeing it written in print in an actual newspaper, makes it seem impressive. Almost like it is not me that is being discussed. Odd. Anyway, for those not in the Lansing, Michigan area here is the link to the article-
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007303230001

Also, a week or so ago Robert talked about Wolf-Man in his column on CBR-
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=19

Oh, for those who come here to see pictures and not to read words, sorry for the lack of updates (I am pretty sure this has resulted in nobody coming here anymore, but anyway). All the stuff I have been drawing lately has been Wolf-Man related. I don't want to give away any pages, but here is a character design for a guy who appears in an upcoming issue.

The Astounding Wolf-Man

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=97888

Well, this is the reason I havn't had much recent stuff to post here. So check out the link for some more artwork. I am really excited about this book. And hey, the first issue is free, so if you hate it no big deal. Although if you like it, please send me $2.95 :)

Christmas is coming!

Here's the cover to the family Christmas card this year. A few years ago (before kids, when I still some of the elusive thing called 'free time') I started doing these not very holiday themed mini comic Chirstmas cards. People seemed to dig them, and I had fun doing them. But last year I was busy and although I wrote most of it and drew the layouts I never got a chance to actually draw the card. Well I guess more people liked them than I thought, because I got all kinds of grief for slacking off. So anyway, this year the theme is outer space. Hopefully I'll get the rest finished in time to get it to the printer and sent before Chiristmas. Feliz Navidad.

SPIDA

Spidey here is another sketch. I know I didn't draw the webbing on his costume, but the time was up. The old dude is a design for something I'm not talking about yet :)

Briareos Sketch

I have a tendency to like to overwork things looking for just the right line. So lately I have been forcing myself to be a little more sketchy. I gave myself an hour to do this warmup sketch of Briareos from Appleseed. The guns were the last thing I drew and the hour was almost up, so they got shortchanged, sorry.

This kind of drawing is fun, because my goal is not necessarily to make a good drawing, it is just to finish before the time is up. The time limit removes most of my edits from the process. Its like when I was drawing as a kid, I didn't know what made a good drawing or bad drawing, I was just drawing to make a picture, to create something with pencil. The process itself was the joy, not the quality of the finished drawing.