Superhero sketches summer 2019

Just some quick sketches, thinking of the good ol' days...

Summer cold

Trying to take a break from everything else,

some new virus came to town and won't leave me alone.

Here's my take on it.

 

Needed to post a sketch after all this time.

The Flaming Skull

Quick Halloween sketch, with very ruff inking.

Planet Soltice - More Sketches

Late Summer/Early Fall sketches

 

One point perspective on some Borg-like tech, this is actually for something else...

Landscape...

 

Another one point perspective, need the practice.

Herman Bear on the planet Solstice

Here's some sketches from July in Canada...

Herman Bear lands on my new planet Solstice...

I didn't want him to be alone on the planet,
so I gave him a new companion.

(Cubcake is also there, but I'm not sure I'll keep her in the story.)

 

The bear has to make a new friend, literally! Herman assembles "Athena" from different organisms to build a composite creature. Sort of a cross between Larry Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers, and Sylvia the "Zbornak" from Disney's "Wander over Yonder".

http://larryniven.net/puppeteer/pupbod.shtml

(It's a long story)

When Herman first sees Athena, she is just some kind of seed pod that drags itself along the ground with some sort of beak. Herman has to put her together as an intelligence test designed by other aliens. Enjoy!

Mountains colored in Photoshop

Blowin' off steam...

 

Quick sketch, colored in Photoshop.

The evil within

Another rough sketch: the Ibex reveals Herman Bear's dark side. In this case, she uses her magic to bring his shadow to life. The Ibex claims that HB's shadow represents every murderous thought, an destructive impulse he ever had...

Started clean up in Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator has always been my Kryptonite. This drawing still has a long way to go, but I'm finally getting some cool brush strokes.

My hats off to Jose and Sue at the Animation Guild computer lab for helping me start to overcome one of my biggest software roadblocks. Clay Butler's tutorial on YouTube is also invaluable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5wW_65iAiU

The Screaming Skull!

Just some rough sketches; 

Herman Bear goes on little evening stroll with his new companion, the Ibex.

But instead of getting some Trick or Treats...

They find a different Halloween item!

(Another version, want to have the skull facing them a bit more as they approach.)

(Another version, still need to get my ink line back.)

Happy Halloween!

Joe Sinnott sketch of Ben Grimm, the Thing.

I don't remember if I went to comic con that year, but I met Joe Sinnott on an Amtrak train going east in the summer of 1995. He saw me sketching, and seemed impressed that I could draw on a moving train. He later gave me this sketch of Ben Grimm, the Thing. I think he said something about not wanting to be deterred by a rocking train.

(Ben Grimm - the Thing by Joe Sinnott, now copyright Marvel/Disney.)

Found this sketch in the bookshelf today. (I have it framed now.) Man, it's been almost 20 years?!

I've lost track of time it seems. Joe Sinnott gave me this beautiful sketch 2 years after I met Jack Kirby. Just wanted to set the record straight. The Thing is truly one of Jack's creations!

Jack-O-Lantern

Finally gettin' my Ghoul on!

Happy Halloween!

Christmas coffee at Coffee Fix

Well, these sketches didn't turn out the way I had hoped. But I wanted to show my female superhero characters relaxing at the Coffee Fix over on Moorpark and Whitsett.

Coffee Fix is very pleasant, quiet and feels very homey. This is probably because of the old store front it's in.

Cubcake, Boffette and Lady Cobra take a break from Christmas shopping.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/coffee-fix-studio-city?nb=1

Cabin

Missing Canada already...

Three Musketeers minus one

Herman Bear and Obsidian as swashbucklers! Ruff sketch

Captain America sketch art

Hello, was traveling around Parry Sound Canada, here's a quick sketch of Captain America

Halloween 2011

Hello blog, haven't been here in a while; better late than never.
Sketched some quick Jack O' Lanterns, that's supposed to be Vincent Price in the middle page of sketches. Got into the spirit at the last moment last night.
Next stop, Christmas!

Dr. Spectrum, or, no more spandex.

One reader of my comic said he was tired of spandex-clad heroes.
(Of course, who knows what some of Herman Bear's foes wear on their off-hours;)

Not so friendly faces

More scribblings...

Coffee fix-Doctor Who style

Peguins

Hello blog, its been a long time.
This sketch is from last year.

Bear Airship Comic

Since it's the day after Thanksgiving, (or "stanksgiving" as someone on Facebook said)

And since everyone is bloated, right?

My thoughts turned back to my bear's airship. Yeah, blimps aren't practical since they can't travel far, can't travel fast and strong winds can destroy them.

BUT...

They do have a longer "loitering" time than an airplane does, and they stay airborne after an EM pulse. Plus Herman would have some kind of techno-magic to get the ship to do impossible things...

Did a little research, the issue seems to be the wind resistance created by such a large, broad volume moving against the atmosphere. I came up with the "vortex Drive" that would create a partial vacuum in front of the ship, and therefore drag it forward.

Sort of like the warp drive on the Enterprise...

This is an old sketch of the airship Utopia in its hangar after Herman (and Professor Behrman) have finished it. They live in a more magic world, but there has to be some believability in its mechanics.

http://www.google.com/search?q=the%20manned%20cloud&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw&start=0
http://www.hyperblimp.com/future-hyperblimp/

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q3/080708c1_pr.html