Monday, August 31, 2009

Wonder Woman Week: WW vs. Cheetah

I've been criticized from time to time because I haven't given enough airtime to Wonder Woman. So here we go—a whole week of Wonder Woman!

It's the time of year for the annual Wonder Woman Day charity art auction. This is the 3rd year I have participated. Here's how it works: artists (including many past WW artists) donate original art for an auction benefiting a women's shelter in Oregon. There have been some great pieces in the past (do your own Google search!).

After I've submitted my line art, I've colored the drawings, and posted here to Blogspot and occasionally sell as prints. I colored this year's with Painter, again, practicing with the chalk tool. I'm far from great, but I can definitely see improvement from my earliest manglings.

The inspiration for my WW vs. Cheetah is a poster I had as a kid, of the pair wrestling high above skyscrapers. Presumably NYC, as there was a New Year's ball-looking thing on one of the rooftops. For years, I thought, "what is that thing?!?" as it was really tough to tell what was; so I don't feel bad that you will be saying the same about my drawing.


UPDATE: the poster was kindly found for me on the internet. See, kind of tough to tell what's going on.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

A thing of beauty

Finally posting this sketch from May. En route to the airport for TCAF, I encountered this fellow on the silver "T" line. He was mid-30s, 5'9", built and scruffy. Very much a man. As the car jostled him about, I suppose the friction of his sweatpants against his presumably naked nether region produced a visable reaction. He had to reposition and stand in such a way to disguise his erection. But inevitably, he could not hide it forever: as he prepared to disembark at Courthouse Station, my suspicions proved accurate. It is a memory I will cherish for some time.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Umbrellacist

Bewteen its short distance between point A and point B, and the thousands of bike-friendly foreigners here, Boston is a walker-biker town.

I myself bike most days to work, year-round. Yes, including January and February. And August. Except if the roads are really awful, then I am too fearful of the conditions to take that risk. I've been knocked off my bike in traffic twice in good weather...I don't need even more negative factors against me!

In June we saw much rain, and I relied on the subway and foot. But one day, I saw this fellow in a horribly busy intersection biking in a terrific downpour, wearing a suit, with a backpack, and holding an umbrella.

Insane! I hope he survived his trek to work.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Mom's garden

I drew this a few months ago and never posted. In recent years, my mom has taken to gardening, and she has a few very nice displays, blooming from spring through late summer. This one surrounds a lovely old birch tree. I was up in NH this past weekend, and was enjoying the gardens again. I like to go up there as much as I can in August. June is very busy for me due to my day job, and July tends to be busy because of comics. That leaves August for some summer relaxing, and escaping the nastiest of city weather. This weekend, I actually helped with a little yardwork! Very unlike me. I also read some comics, and did some drawing. A nice weekend overall. Although, usually on these summer trips, I indulge myself in some extraordinarily light reading (Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, etc.). But this time, I had no such book to read. Maybe I will pull some classic entries from my old blog discussing Nancy Drew. You can find my Dana Girls entry on this blog.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Summer '09 reading list

Fish-philes know I don't read many new comics; but lately, due to friends' recommendations and Comic Con, I have been reading a nice handful:

Godland (Casey/Scioli) which is fun but may veer more toward "Kirby knock-off" than "Kirby inspired."

Charlatan Ball (Casey/Suriano) is also fun and the art is amazing!

X-Men First Class (various) to catch up on work from my comics pal Colleen Coover.

Rex Mundi (Arvid Nelson et al) which has an intricate, well thought through plot...a little tough to follow here and there, but a good read.

The sketchbook image to the left are the two doctors from Rex Mundi. I like the image overall, but I really F'd up the Eiffel Tower. It looked ok in blue pencil, but when I inked it, the perspective went all wrong. Oh well.

I'll keep you posted...there's a lot on my to-read pile.