Photobooth Friday, No. 53

In memoriam, Peter Torres.

Roughly a year ago I lost my Uncle to cancer. He was beloved by me and my family. Full of life - loud and boisterous to the end. Unafraid of the challenges life gave him, which he endured with style, grace and a sense of humor. I miss him very much.

While I was still working on Bloodspell, I remember telling him about the book, to which he excitedly asked in his booming voice, "CAN I BE IN IT?" I knew there was a scene in the book featuring the super villain 'The Key' and what with my Uncle's trade being that of a locksmith, it was just too perfect. I sent him scans of my layouts, his daughter Lil took the photos, and that was that.

He was a natural of course-

Hamming it up for the camera is in our blood, apparently.

Unfortunately he never got to see the finished book, but I'm thankful that he was a part of it.

I'll keep on mugging for the camera.

Batgirl of Burnside

Batgirl receives a multiversal, time-travelling selfie from Dick Grayson.

(REALLY excited for the new Batgirl, you guys)

Photobooth Friday, No. 52

Guardians of the Galaxy edition!

Today Marvel's new movie the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' hits theaters, so I thought why not feature an illustration I did recently in celebration of the movie. Here's the full image:

I was commissioned to make this piece for Variety magazine for use along with an article they were running about the film, it's producer Kevin Feige (pictured above in blue) and director James Gunn. You can read the full article here.

Basically I was asked to draw up a "fun, heroic group shot" of the crew from the movie, along with producer Kevin Feige, "in an alien/space setting." Thankfully they basically went for my first idea--looking at the group in an anti-gravity setting aboard a starship. I also added in a small narrative of Kevin wearing Star Lord (Chris Pratt)'s headphones as seen in the trailer. Star Lord reaches for them, trying to peel them back off Kevin's head. Here's a look at the initial sketch, and a follow up tweaking of it after some notes from art director, Chuck Kerr:

Some photoboothin:

A look at the rest of the process from digital pencils to real inks to digital color:

And finally, some detail shots of my inks:

And that about does it! I'm off to the movies, y'all. :)

Have a great weekend!