Mr. Monster

Mr. Monster | Comic Syrup Press

The original adventures of Mr. Monster, Fred Kelly's occult vigilante, are returning to print thanks to Comic Syrup Press! To learn more about this strange and exciting hero from Canada's Golden Age of comics, his creator Fred Kelly, and the talent behind the reprint campaign check out the official Kickstarter and Facebook pages. My suitably creepy illustration will be available as a print to backers of the project.

Johnny Canuck!

Johnny Canuck | Comic Syrup Press

In celebration of the forthcoming reprinted adventures of Johnny Canuck, Canada's first national comic book hero, this image will be available as a print from Comic Syrup Press!  To learn more about Johnny, his creator Leo Bachle, and the talent behind the reprint campaign check out the official Kickstarter and Facebook pages.

Johnny Canuck 

Once more into the breech...

Kill Shakespeare Board Game | IDW

I was pleased to find out a couple of weeks ago that the cover art I created for Kill Shakespeare #11 will soon be given a new life as the cover art to the upcoming board game!

To see a little more of the thought and process behind the image check out my earlier post linked here, Kill Shakespeare Cover Art.

Nelvana of the Northern Lights

Nelvana | Personal Work

Created by artist Adrian Dingle in 1941, Canada's own Nelvana of the Northern Lights was among the very first female superheroes, even predating Wonder Woman. I made this piece to celebrate the launch of a local campaign to reprint the original comics which have been out of circulation for more than 60 years. Prints of this peice as well as contributions from many other artists will be available as incentives to backers. To learn more about Nelvana and to support the campaign please visit the Kickstarter page linked here. 

What appeals to me the most about the mysterious goddess of the North is her mystical quality and fashion sense, that she rides atop her shapeshifting brother Tanero is pretty cool too.  Flying through the sky as a great dane or later, a polar bear.

Originally intended as an 11"x17" ink drawing, part way through I started experimenting with washes and cut paper.  When things started to get a little messy I moved on to the computer to pull it all together digitally. 

Nelvana | Prints

The Thing

The Thing | Commission

The Thing is an 11"x17" ink drawing, coloured digitally.  The piece was done for Joe Kilmartin, a knowledgeable comics and pulp culture enthusiast of The Comic Book Lounge and once upon a time, Dragonlady Comics in Toronto.  I have enjoyed frequenting Joe's College Street shops for many years.

The Thing | Sketch | Inks  | Digital Colour

One of my favourite Marvel characters, The Thing, has always been a popular choice when sketching at conventions or warming up at home.

I'd done a rough of Mr. Grimm twisting up a lamp post, an element that may still end up in this image as an overlay.  The copy(text) in the top image was all lifted from different sources (a couple of Kirby Pin-ups mostly) and modified.

Yo Joe!

DJ Cobra Commander | Commission | Pencil on heavy paper

With another G.I. Joe movie set to debut next week I thought it might be appropriate to share this old drawing.  I was lucky to get a snap of the sketch I'd done for a friend back in 2007.

The Dark Knight

Dark Knight now in colour! | Personal Work

This one's from waaay back! (1999)
At the time I had a few pages planned out and a couple more pencilled an inked. Somewhere along the way I lost interest,(maybe when I realized I hadn't left any room for speech balloons) but always thought this page was kinda neat. A little Frank Miller, a little Mike Mignola and a little bit Kevin O'Neill...  When I came across these drawings I thought it would be fun to revisit this piece with a quick colour job and post it in celebration of the new Batman flick.

Detail | Sketches

Along with the comic pages I found some other small drawings in the old sketchbook.

The Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch | Commission

The Scarlet Witch is an 11"x17" ink drawing, coloured digitally along with some additional hand made textures.  This piece was commissioned by Doug Simpson, manager at Paradise Comics in Toronto and an Avengers super-fan.
  

Scarlet Witch | Inks | Digital Colour  | Sketches

For more than a decade Doug has commissioned drawings of his favourite members of the Marvel Comics super team, including Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-man, The Vision and Hawkeye.  Many of these drawings became promotional material for local comic book conventions.

This is the second Scarlet Witch I've drawn for Doug;)  Thanks for keeping me busy!

CMYK Heroes

CMYK Heroes | Clear Space 

The folks at Clear Space drew inspiration from superheroes to promote the 2nd Annual CMYK Awards, a contest presented by Unisource to recognize Canada's Top 5 Print Reps. I was provided with a detailed brief for each character and had a lot of fun coming up with different concepts and costume designs with direction from the very lovely Ashley Vella.

Heroes Wanted | 2nd Annual CMYK Awards | Promotional Booklet | Clear Space

Thanks to the Clear Space team for the photos!

Kick-Ass Annie

My Kick-Ass Annie | Commission for Anne Koyama of Koyama Press

I was thrilled when Annie asked me to contribute to her growing collection of amazing commissions, and did my best to create an interpretation of her icon/logo that would stand out in good company.  Be sure to check out the other fantastic "Kick-Ass Annie's" she's collected over the years as well as a ton of great books, comics and more at Koyama Press!

Kick-Ass Annie | Sketch and Detail

Like the cover to Kill Shakespeare this piece was originally conceived as a sketch and then worked over in photoshop incorporating hand drawn and painted elements.

Kill Shakespeare

Kill Shakespeare #11 (cover art) | IDW

A moody self-directed piece based on the continuity of the comic book series Kill Shakespeare.  Dozens of elements were created separately in pen and ink and assembled digitally.

Kill Shakespeare #11 (cover art) | IDW | Printed Comic Book

A year ago a contest was brought to my attention by my friends at Paradise Comics.  The challenge was to create a cover for the eleventh issue of the popular comic book series Kill Shakespeare. Entries were submitted by participating comic shops across North America and the finalists were posted online for fan voting to help decide which image would be on the cover.  Congratulations to all contenders and thanks to everyone who showed support for my entry.  I won!

Kill Shakespeare #11 was released on May 25, 2011 with two covers. One by the supremely talented series cover artist, Kagan McLeod, and the other by me! 

Update!

For this cover I've been nominated for a JSA!

New Commission

Miller & Mullet | Private Commission

New Commission

Magneto | Private Commission

I'm a sucker for comics. Magneto was commissioned by a Toronto collector and friend, Ryan Aleong.  I thought I'd surprise him by presenting full colour art upon delivery of the original ink drawing.

Visions of an Icon

Superman (colour art) | Joe Shuster Awards

Visions of an Icon is an exhibition celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the first publication of Superman in Action Comics in June of 1938. The exhibit will feature art by dozens of Canadian comic artists and cartoonists, and will be part of this years annual Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards. The artwork in the show will be up for auction with the proceeds going to the JSA's as well as the Hero Initiative (www.heroinitiative.org) to help comic book industry veterans.

Superman | Joe Shuster Awards | ink on cardstock 11 x 17"

The exhibit will be held on June 14th in Toronto at the Lillian H. Smith Library Auditorium (239 College Street) and will include a day of programming called the Sequential Art Symposium running from 10AM to 5PM. As well as the exhibit there will be guest comic creators, signings, sketches, workshops, and panels followed by the presentation of the Joe Shuster Awards at 8PM. For more information visit www.joeshusterawards.com.